The Hero and the Servant
by AmeriCanada Love
Summary: You are the hero. I am the servant. We are twins that destiny played a cruel jest on. And even if the whole world turns against you, I will become the only evil that’s on your side. Fail summary is a fail. AU. Human names used.
1. Prologue: The End and the Beginning

"Alfred F. Jones, you are accused of murder of the first degree. The penalty is death. How do you plead?"

I looked up at the overcast sky for the last time. Thunder rumbled as streaks of heat lightning streaked throughout the clouds. Tiny raindrops began to patter on the ground until a stream of heavy rain drenched the cobblestone ground. It was if the sky was crying for me.

I closed my eyes, the water washing over my body. It was comforting in a sort of way as if I wasn't the only one who was in despair. A light smile spread across my face as a few tears escaped the corner of my eyes. Not that anyone could tell, nor that I'd want anyone to notice. That'd give our plan away.

The prosecutor was growing impatient; I could tell by the venom in his voice. "Well, Jones, how do you plead?"

I let out a light chuckle and focused my eyes onto his amber ones. Obviously he was seeking vengeance for the death of his younger brother. And who could blame him? After all, I'd do anything for my brother as well. Isn't that what brought me here?

"If I were to plead anything but guilty, would you listen?" I mocked, that smile still etched on my face. Obviously he was trying to remain from losing his cool, but he was failing miserably. He pushed the pistol to my forehead, the cold metal sending shivers down my spine. I almost lost that signature smile for a second, but I quickly brought it back to my lips before anyone caught the lack of confidence in me. After all, I'm supposed to be the hero, right?

Despite how hard I'd tried to hide it, he must've noticed the terror illuminating from my eyes, because he was smiling. Obviously seeing the fear of death creeping up on me pleased him. And who could blame him? That satisfaction of protecting the honor of those he cared about must've been a great feeling. Too bad I'd never feel the same sensation. The closest I could get to it was right now, protecting the identity of the one I cared about most.

"Then I have no choice but to sentence you to death," he sighed, happy to bring justice at last. As I heard his finger click onto the trigger, my mind wandered to the exact moment when all this had began…

_**To Be Continued…**_

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Okay, this was only a midget prologue. The chapters to follow will be much longer than this. I can promise you at least that.

Also, this is my first fan fiction on here, but I want you to criticize me just as you would a normal writer, please. Hope you enjoyed.

**And Remember: **

A Story Favorite is a compliment.

A Story alert is an Honor

But a review is what helps me improve and get chapters out faster. :D


	2. 1: The Escape and the Quarrel

_**Translations:**_

_Laisse ma sœur tranquille – French – "Leave my sister alone!" (correct me if I'm wrong)_

_Frére, tu ne inquiétez pas pour moi. – French – "Brother, don't worry about me." [Thank you She Who Dances Under The Moon! :D]_

_De rein – French – "It's nothing." [Thank you She Who Dances Under The Moon! :D]_

_Angelique – Seychelles's human name (made up)_

_**Quick Author's Notes**_:

_One thing my beta suggested was explaining the time period. Wow, I never really gave explaining the time period a thought! This story takes place in a fictional medieval like setting. Confusing I know, but let me see if I can explain myself better._

_The land the characters are in isn't like what we know the world to be like today. However, most of the settings, weaponry, clothing, and transportation are something you would see during the medieval times. They have a few modern things such as sports, primitive video games (for example: Packman, DigDug, Centipede, and any other classic games I'm sure no one knows about anymore. XD), and some forms of guns (though they are still in development and only tested out when people are being put to death)._

_If anyone has any questions about the story or time period, feel free to ask. :D_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

_Out there Barnaby – Whole Chapter theme - www. youtube .com/watch?v=JVA3jgpgIY8_

_I'm still here - Alfred's theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=ba1UFP186F8_

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**Chapter 1 - The Escape and the quarrel**

"Alfred? Alfred! Alfred, are you listening to me?" an agitated voice hissed, though the boy who he was addressing didn't seem to have any interest in his words. The older man cried out in frustration and slammed a book down on the younger boy's desk, forcing the lad pay attention. His sapphire eyes met the emerald eyes in front of him with shock, but soon after Alfred's eyes melted into pure aggravation.

"Yeah, I hear you, Iggy," Alfred answered with venom in his voice.

"Hearing and listening are two different things," the man replied. "And you will stop addressing me by that annoying nickname. It was cute when you were little, but now it's time to grow up."

"Whatever, _Arthur_," Alfred spat back, his head resting in his palm. He whined, "I'm tired of this boring history lesson. Besides, why do I need to know all this crap? I'm not going to go up to the nearest person and say, 'Hey! Know how many children my great-grandmother had?' Can't I do something fun like go outside?"

"Your studies are more important than you screwing around," Arthur replied shutting the lesson book in his hands. "But you have been learning history all day, so why don't you take a break for lunch? Then we can continue afterward."

Alfred let a groan escape his lips. A lunch break was nice, but not what he had in mind. "Just for lunch? I said I'm done learning history."

"You'll be done when I say so."

"You're not my boss!"

"I might as well be seeing as you can't handle anything on your life."

"Don't you have anything better to do than torture me? It's bad enough I ate your nasty scones the other day and almost died of food poisoning."

"What's wrong with my scones? My scones are delectable!"

"Yeah, if you have no sense of taste. I think I lost some of my taste buds yesterday." Alfred stuck his burnt tongue out and pointed at it while slurring, "See what you did to me? I can't even taste my delicious hamburgers anymore."

"Not like they tasted like anything but garbage in the first place."

"You wouldn't know good food if it jumped out of your pan and bit you on the ass! Oh wait, it already has attacked someone. I wonder if she ever got her frying pan back."

"Bloody hell, do you even have one shred of respect, or intelligence for that matter?"

"Respect? Who's the one talking down to their master here? If my father-"

"Your father was a good man and twice of what you'll ever be!" Arthur lowered his voice and paused, realizing what he'd just said. Alfred stood up, his wooden chair made an irritating screech on the floor, and stormed out of the room. Alfred shuffled his feet on the ground and turned to the left in the narrow hallway to enter his bedroom, collapsing onto his bed and smothering his screams into his pillow.

_'That asshole… I can't wait until I get the chance to fire him when I'm king of this stupid place,'_ he thought. It was true; Alfred was next in line for the country of Peleo-India. His father, King Joseph, was a kind ruler. He was a friend to all his people, and saw himself as their equal, not their king. Since he was little, Alfred was always told to be the hero of his civilians. They were, as his father put it, under his care not his rule. To familiarize Alfred with his people, his father would take him on multiple strolls throughout their capitol city, Iroquois City. There were so many people of different shapes and sizes, Alfred wondered how all of them could live in harmony with each other. Seeing how much the people respected his father made Alfred proud. He wanted to be just like his father: the kind of ruler who would protect his people even if it meant the cost of his life. Unfortunately, King Joseph had passed away a few years ago, leaving Alfred's mother in charge of the country, Queen Natalia.

How Alfred despised that woman! How could someone so caring marry an old bat like that? She was everything his father wasn't: unjust, greedy, and downright cruel. The people were like puppets attached to strings to her; only when she needed them would she pay attention to their needs.

At least one good thing would happen his 21st birthday. He would be able to take the throne, and then that old pig could kiss this castle goodbye. But the downside was his loss of freedom. Alfred knew once he took the thrown, his visits to the city would become fewer and fewer. Not that he was totally free at the moment, but the thought of being kept up in this huge castle with no one but that stuffy Arthur bothered him.

A knock came to his door, and Alfred groan into his pillow. Even though he said nothing, he heard his door open, and he knew who it was.

"What do you want, Arthur?" Alfred mumbled in his pillow. He heard footsteps approaching the side of his bed and the mattress dipped down from the pressure applied by a human body. Alfred turned his head to face away from Arthur and stared at the other wall. "I'm not hungry. Come back when you learn your place."

Although he couldn't see it, Alfred was sure the man's face was wrinkled into a scowl. "Whether you starve or not I could care less. But your father left me in charge of you, so you will eat even if I have to force it down your throat." His words softened a bit. "You haven't eaten for the past two days. If you keep this up, you-"

"I want to die," Alfred hissed. "At least then I'll be free. And besides, maybe the she-devil will give birth to another brat that is 'twice the man I'll ever be'. I'm sure that would make you happy."

"You ignorant, little-"the man hissed and pounded his fist on the bed. Alfred bit his lips in order to keep from showing amusement to Arthur's sudden outburst. How he loved to get under Arthur's skin! It was the only form of entertainment he had in this dammed castle. "Why must you be so childish?"

"Why must you be so annoying?" Alfred shot back sitting up to glare at Arthur. A light smile spread across his face.

"Oh for the love of the queen," Arthur groaned, "will you ever grow up?"

"I don't have to grow up to be awesome," Alfred shot back.

"Oh, you've got so much to learn." Arthur stood up from the bed. "Much more than I can ever teach you." He pinched the bridge of his nose and paced back and forth from the bed to the doorway, as if indecisive of whether he should leave or not. Alfred watched him move, his eyelids drooping.

"If you're finished being a metronome, I'm tired." He rested his head on his pillow and brought the sheets of his bed over his head. "Good night!"

Arthur was about to say something but stopped himself. How anyone could put up with that brat for a long period of time was beyond him. He walked out the door and shut it behind him, trying not to make any noise and scampered down the hallway.

Alfred held his breath until he couldn't hear Arthur's footsteps anymore. When he was sure Arthur was far from hearing distance, he launched the sheets off his bed and stripped his royal garment off of him. His now more casual dress consisted of a white cotton shirt with a pair of light brown pants and his father's old jacket. That jacket was Alfred's most prized possession, and the only part of his father he had left. Alfred scurried over to his bedroom window, opening it as far as the wall would allow it to go. There was long screech from the window's aged hinges, and Alfred flinched at the horrid noise, glancing over his shoulder to see if anyone heard the window's protest. When no more sound came from the hallway, he looked over the side of the wall to see where he would land. He could see the shrubbery underneath him, and knew it would break his fall as it did the past three times he escaped from the castle walls. Without hesitation, he swung a leg over the side and took in a deep breath. Heights had never been Alfred's strong point, but he was getting over the slight phobia piece by piece.

"Okay… on the count of three," he told himself. "One... two… … two and a half…. … … maybe the front entrance isn't being guarded…" As he went to bring his leg back inside the window, he lost his balance and went tumbling head first into the bushes. He let out a yelp of surprise as he felt the thorns of the bush tear at his flesh. After a few moments of noting to himself how stupid he was for falling out a window, he poked his head out of the shrubbery to look around. It seemed as if no one had seen him. He breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, picking a leaf out of his hair.

"Prince Alfred?" a tender voice called out. Alfred flinched. 'Busted!'

Or not. He looked over to see one of his most loyal servants and best friend, Toris. When he was little, Toris's family had worked as cooks for the royal family. They would bring their eldest son, who was the same age as Alfred, to the castle in order to keep Alfred company when his father couldn't be with him. The two had grown inseparable, and a few years later Toris began to work at the castle as a gardener.

"Toris, how many times do I have to tell you, drop the formality," he smiled walking over to his friend.

"Yes, Pri-Alfred," Toris replied, a shy smile on his lips. He began to brush the dirt and leaves off of his friend and laughed. "You must stop fighting with gravity and loosing."

"Yeah well, gravity loves to cheat," Alfred hissed and waited for his friend to finish. Toris looked up at him with kind green eyes and sighed.

"Will you ever learn?" he shook his head a small chuckle trying to escape his lips and failing.

"Hey, once Arthur learns to let me out of the castle more, maybe I can start using the front door like normal people," he shot back glancing up at the window.

"Don't tell me you're sneaking out to the city again."

"I would, but I can't."

"Alfred, you know how much trouble you could get in for this? Queen Natalia-"

"-is a fat old cow that needs to learn some manners." Alfred interrupted.

Toris cleared his throat and replied, "You really shouldn't disrespect her majesty like that."

"She's my mother. I can call her whatever I want," Alfred replied. "Besides, she's not really the rightful queen of Peleo-India being born in Alba Ruthenia and all. The only reason she's even in charge is because I'm too young to take over."

"Alfred," Toris hissed and lowered his voice to a low whisper. "You shouldn't speak so loudly about negative things like that. If someone hears you…"

"What can she do to me that she hasn't already done?" he shot back, a look of disgust on his face. "She already took away any freedom that I had to begin with. And my father's gone. There's nothing else she can take away from me… besides you."

Toris smiled and stammered, "I... I'm r-really that s-special to you?"

"Are you kidding? You're like my best friend. You don't tell me what to do, you've always been there for me, and you keep all my secrets… which reminds me-"

"Alfred, please don't."

"What? I didn't say anything yet."

"You're going to ask me to cover for you again like last time. I could get in-"

"I wasn't going to say anything like that, but that's a great idea! Thanks so much, Toris!" Alfred dashed over to his right leaving Toris calling Alfred's name in attempt to get the young prince to listen to him. "You're a great friend!"

Toris lowered his eyes, annoyed but too shy to say what was really on his mind. Honestly, Alfred was so conceited sometimes it killed his nerves. But what could he really do?

"Just be careful, Alfred," Toris whispered and went back to tending to the rose garden.

Alfred trotted along the busy streets of the city, people dashing here and there carrying baskets full of goods. The fresh air seemed to caress Alfred's aching lungs, and he'd never felt more relieved to be in the city. The sun warmed his skin, making the leather jacket more of a nuisance every moment, but he refused to take it off. People in the street who recognized him greeted him and continued about their business. It felt good to be among his people yet again.

A particular stand caught his attention. There were fresh apples resting in dozens of crates. Alfred felt his stomach growl. Maybe leaving the castle without any lunch wasn't the best idea. He walked closer, examining the apple with curiosity.

"Why, Alfred, what brings you out to town," a familiar feminine voice called out. Alfred brought his eyes up to meet with familiar jade eyes.

He smiled and replied, "Oh, Elizabeta. I haven't seen you since you quit working up at the house."

She placed her elbows onto the stand, resting her head between her hands. "Yeah. Didn't feel like working for the witch. So me and Roddy decided to leave while we still had our heads."

"I wish you would've taken me with you."

"I would, but they'd probably get us for kidnapping along with several other false charges."

Alfred shrugged. "Not if I stood up to the witch herself. The royal soldiers still listen to me… when they feel like it."

She chuckled. "I pity you. You have to live with it."

"Yeah, well," he was about to continue when something yellow popped out from the basket of apples, a worm caught between its beak. Elizabeta cried out in surprise and glared down at the little bird with annoyance.

"Gilbert! Get your turkey out of my apples!"

A man with silver hair and crimson eyes walked out of the house, papers scattering everywhere. It looked like piano sheet music. There was someone shouting something inside (Alfred guessed it was some form of German) and the silver haired man scooped the young bird up into his hands.

"Okay, for one, Gilbird isn't a turkey. She's a chicken. Get your facts straight. Second, she was doing you a favor getting rid of that nasty worm."

"I don't care why it was in there. I. Want. It. Out! Now!"

"Okay, okay," he replied backing off. "Someone's PMSing."

Elizabeta's eyes lit up with fire and she grabbed her frying pan from under the cart. "Get out of here!" She yelled, chasing the man down the street.

Alfred began to laugh. If there was one thing Elizabeta wasn't, it was a lightweight. And when she got a hold of any blunt object (a frying pan being her favorite) you better fear for your life.

Out of the blue, there was a shrill yell from a crowd of people and the sound of scuffling feet. Alfred's interests peaked and he ran over to see what was going on. There was a horde of soldiers surrounding the area to keep away any civilians that might interfere with their affairs. Alfred ducked down low, focusing on the scene in front of him.

They seemed to be carrying off a younger girl with brown hair pulled into two low pigtails. A boy who looked about Alfred's age with hair darker than Alfred's blond hair was struggling against two other guards but didn't seem to possess the strength to shake them both off at the same time.

"_Laisse ma sœur tranquille_!" the young boy cried out through his grunts of protest. "_Angelique_!"

"_Frére, vous ne inquiétez pas pour moi_," the girl shouted back, "I'll be okay."

Alfred felt his teeth clench. 'Well, dad, it's time to be the hero you said I should be for my people.' As he was about to jump out of the crowd, the young boy had managed to break free from the soldiers holding him and rammed into the stomach of one of the guards holding his sister. The guard dropped her arm in shock while the other made a grab for the sword on his belt. He made a stab at the young male, connecting with his upper shoulder and earning a squeal of pain from the boy. His hand flew to the inflicted wound and he retracted from the guard. Alfred let a small gasp escape his lips. Seeing the severity of the fresh wound on the boy's arm made Alfred's own arm begin to ache.

"_Mathieu_!" the young girl shrieked and struggled to get away from the guard holding her. However, the pair was outnumbered. Alfred saw this as his chance to react. Without hesitation or the thought of his identity being known to the soldiers, he dashed forward, punching the only guard holding the girl straight in the jaw. The guard let out a cry of pain and staggered backward, releasing the girl's arm. She looked over at her rescuer with widened eyes and smiled relieved.

"You little bastard!" one of the guards called out and pulled out his sword to battle Alfred. Alfred swung his attention over to the guard and barely dodged the point of the sword. Oh, smart move leaving the castle without a weapon. He was at a huge disadvantage and could only rely on the few martial arts skills Toris had taught him in their spare time. As soon as he dodged, the guard was already retaliating with another attack.

Alfred taunted as he dodged the sword's strikes, "Oh come on! My Great-Aunt Tillie uses a sword better than you!" He jumped to the left, the soldier now pissed off, and laughed. "Damn, I never thought fighting you guys would be this easy." He ducked his head down to miss a horizontal swing meant to pierce his neck and popped back up sticking out his tongue. "Strike one!"

"Hold still you brat," the soldier cried out in fury, swinging back to hit his head again. Alfred ducked back down and popped back up again, laughing even harder.

"Strike two! One more and you're out!" For someone who wasn't the quickest thinker, he sure had great reflexes. "Damn, good thing you're not on my team. You have terrible aim."

The soldier cried out in rage and swung his sword at Alfred again. But this time, he lunged forward instead of swinging it horizontally. The blade missed Alfred's right blue eye, knocking his glasses off and etching a small scratch on his cheek. Even though he felt the cool blade graze over his face, he didn't feel any pain. Alfred looked around for his missing set of eyes and cursed under his breath. Now everything was out of focus. 'Great, another disadvantage.'

"Dodge to your left!" the girl's voice called out. Alfred did as she said and felt the air of the guard's sword miss his upper arm. With the guard's arm vulnerable in front of him, Alfred grabbed the man's wrist and flung him over his shoulder, sending the unsuspecting guard hurtling head over heels into the dirt.

"P-prince Alfred?" one of the guards cried out. Alfred paused. 'Oh crap…' "Your highness, what are you doing out of the castle?"

There was a dull roar from the crowd whispering Alfred's name and talking about how the guards had just attacked their own prince. Alfred felt someone pushing something into his hands. He looked over to see the young girl he rescued smiling up at him and placing his glasses back in his hand.

"Thank you," he sighed and put them back in their respected place. Ah, it was great to be able to see again. He turned his attention to the now bowing guards and sighed. "Okay, what the hell do you think you were doing?"

One of the guards replied, "Your majesty, we meant no harm. We were just following orders."

"Orders?" Alfred played with the word and then hissed out, "From whom?"

The soldier replied after a short pause. "The queen of course. She gave us strict orders to arrest this young woman."

"Oh really? On what grounds?"

The guard was about to reply, but the young girl who was kneeling next to her brother answered him. "My father's been having trouble keeping up with the taxes, and since he couldn't pay them off this month, they had orders to take me away."

Alfred growled under his breath. He then turned to his guards and helped the one he flung over his shoulder up to his feet. The guard looked terrified at first, but then uttered words of thanks and backed up into the group of soldiers.

Alfred sighed. "Well, I won't punish you for this. Instead, take the day off."

The guards looked shocked but in unison replied, "Thank you for your kindness, your majesty."

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up before I change my mind," he replied, sickened by the formal atmosphere. The guards did as he said and marched away. He turned his attention back to the young boy and smiled that signature heroic smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked the boy.

He gazed up at Alfred in both praise and admiration and replied, "Yes, I think so. Thank you for saving my sister, Prince Alfred."

"Please," Alfred hissed, but then softened up, "Just Alfred. You don't need to call me anything formal. I'm just another guy like you." The young boy smiled realizing he had the tenderness of his father, King Joseph. Alfred cleared his throat and asked, "So, what's your name, kid?"

"Mathieu," he replied with a light smile on his face.

"Well then, _Matthew_, it's nice to meet ya." He offered his hand out to shake it. Matthew glanced from Alfred's eyes to his hand and back at his eyes again. Alfred lowered his hand a bit and let his smile droop for a second or two. "What's the matter? Don't you know how to shake?"

"Oh no! It's not that. It's just…. are you sure?"

"Oi, Mattie, you have to loosen up a bit. I already told you I'm no different from you," he replied pushing his hand into Matthew's, which earned him a small squeak of shock. Matthew's shoulders relaxed, and he began to return the shake. The touch seemed so familiar, but Matthew couldn't place his finger on it.

Alfred released his hand. "See, that wasn't so hard." Matthew took interest in staring at the ground in embarrassment.

Alfred watched the young girl wrap up Matthew's arm with some bandages that she found from inside their house. Matthew winced a little in pain, but put up with it, the blood camouflaged against his red shirt.

"_Merci_, _Angelique_," Matthew cooed to his sister, kissing her on the cheek.

She smiled back and replied, "_De rein_."

Alfred was just about to respond to their touching moment when he noticed something dripping down Matthew's cheek. He narrowed his eyes in order to see a sharp cut across Matthew's cheek. But wait… that wasn't there before, was it? He tried to remember back to the fight. Matthew had only been cut on the arm from the battle with the guards. _'Why did Matthew… '_

Alfred subconsciously touched the side of his cheek where he had been cut before, but there was no cut, nor was there any blood. He gasped and looked back at Matthew, the cut a mirror image on his skin. It was as if Matthew had taken all of Alfred's damage during the battle. _'What the hell?'_

**To Be Continued...**

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Wow, I got this out faster than I thought I would! I'm sorry if the fight scene fails hard. It's my first time writing out an action scene.

So anyway, I'd like to give a warm welcome to darandomninja, my new beta-reader! Go check out her stuff, she's pretty good!

Also, thanks to **Jinn** (whoever you are), **akane sarumara**, and **darandomninja** for reviewing! You guys rock! And another big thank you to my story alert and favorite people who are silently stalking me like Belarus. *twitches a bit at the thought of being stalked by Belarus* Okay, you're all Russia stalking me. I can handle a little bit of Russia insanity.

Enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. 2: The Orders and the Return

_**Quick Author's notes:**_

_College sucks… don't graduate. *head desk*_

_**Translations:**_

_Papa! Je suis très content que tu sois de retour – French – Dad! I'm glad that you're back! (I think this is right. My friend translated it for me. But still, correct me if I'm wrong)_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

_Two Worlds - Chapter Theme - www. youtube. com/ watch?v=s0sZ8xZ_dWY [If you're good at analyzing lyrics, it may posses some spoilers for future chapters ;).**]**_

_Always there - Francis, Matthew, and Angelique's theme - _www. youtube. com/watch?v=KIfhc1LxIjY

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**Chapter 2 - The Orders and the Return**

"Okay, how did you get that cut?" Alfred asked brushing his thumb over Matthew's cheek. Matthew winced as a static shock from Alfred's fingers met with the opening in his skin. For a moment, the world went black, and Matthew could only see through a small opening from his vision. It was as if he was sitting in a dark tunnel staring at the exit. His breath became harder to draw, and two heartbeats echoed throughout his head.

Soon, Matthew felt the strange sensation drain out of his body. He looked up to see not Alfred staring at him, but Angelique. Alfred was standing a little to the left, pouting as a child would if they didn't get their way. Angelique stared into Matthew's eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go inside to cover that up," she said and tried to help her brother up. The first attempt ended up with Angelique losing her balance and toppling onto her brother. She tried to lift him up again, but remained unsuccessful.

"Here, I'll help," Alfred said putting his hand under Matthew's right shoulder.

"Thanks, but you've helped enough," Angelique tried to sound polite.

"No really. I'm the hero. I'm going to help."

"I said I don't need it."

"Please, you can barely lift twice his weight. I'm helping."

"Go away and let go of my brother!"

"Oh come on! You can't do this without me. Mattie, tell her to let me help."

Matthew's head whipped over to Angelique's eyes, a blank expression on his face. "Angelique, let Alfred help us."

Angelique hesitated, looking at her brother's face. Something about his eyes sent chills down her spine. She looked from Matthew to Alfred and back to her brother again. "Fine, he can help."

"Score!" Alfred cheered and put his arm under Matthew's shoulder so Matthew could put all his weight on Alfred. '_Wow, he's lighter than I thought he'd be. But that has to be because I'm so strong._' Angelique led the way to her house with Alfred and Matthew right behind her.

Alfred's eyes widened when he entered the doorway to their house. The blue orbs drifted to the front door, which was cracked in half. '_That probably happened when those guards burst through the doors or something. I'm sure it's going to take a while for these guys to fix it. Come to think of it, they said that their father was the one falling behind on taxes, so why were they trying to take Angelique instead of him? And where is the guy? I don't see him anywhere in this little house, unless he's at work. But wouldn't he have come to help his kids out?'_

"-im here?"

"Huh?" Alfred was shaken from his thoughts.

"The rocking chair. Can you put my brother there for now?" Angelique repeated.

"Oh sure!" Alfred placed Matthew down on the creaky rocking chair. Matthew smiled up at Alfred but then gazed down at the floor with a still dazed look on his face. He rocked the chair back and forth with the tips of his shoes.

Angelique asked, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Nah I'm good," Alfred replied plopping himself on the couch and placing his muddy boots on the table in front of him. Angelique's eye twitched at the sight of his boots spoiling her clean tables and parted the cloth separating the living room from what Alfred guessed to be the kitchen, leaving Alfred and Matthew alone in the room.

Alfred's eyes scanned around the room. The house was decorated with spider webs dangling from the ceilings and rotting woodwork. A mixture of mud and straw held the stone walls together. It was cracked in several places, leaving little openings to the outside world. The floor was nothing but the same mixture that held the walls together and was starting to splinter apart. Alfred wrinkled his nose as the smell of mold gripped his nostrils. '_So this is how the other half lives? Damn, I feel kind of spoiled… eh, I'm sure they're used to living like this anyways, so no big deal.'_

He turned his attention back to Matthew, who was still rocking himself back and forth as the chair groaning in protest. '_He doesn't talk much, does he? How boring…'_

Alfred rested his elbow on the armchair of the couch and placed his head in his palm. "Why are you so quiet?"

Matthew jumped, being shaken from his thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You haven't said anything since we entered the house," he replied. "How am I supposed to stay awake if you don't talk to me?"

"Oh…. um," Matthew paused trying to think of a topic. "You… you said you were the prince of Peleo-India, right?"

"The one and only."

"S-so… why walk around the city? I mean, don't you get everything in the palace?"

"Everything except freedom," Alfred hissed. "That ogre the kingdom decides to call their queen keeps me inside all day. I can't even go out to walk in my own garden without her approval! I can't see Toris unless he comes to see me, and the only person I have to talk to is Iggy, but he should shut up about half the time he talks to me. He gets so long winded that I tune him out a lot. Then there's the stupid schedule that keeps you from doing anything fun. Brush your teeth, eat breakfast, study until your brain goes to mush, go to sleep and then do it all over again the next day. It's enough to drive you insane!" Matthew nodded and pretended he knew what Alfred was talking about. Alfred continued, "I mean, how am I supposed to rule the people if I don't even know what they're like? Back when my father was still king, he told me that being one of the citizens was more important in ruling them then making decisions for a group you don't know squat about. Why the bitch thinks otherwise I'll never know, but it doesn't seem to be working very well."

Alfred paused and thought of what else to say, but his mind drew a blank. He looked over at Matthew, who was nodding at everything he said. Alfred let out an exasperated sigh. "You have no clue what I'm talking about, do you?"

Matthew jumped a bit at the blunt question and twirled a lock of his blond hair between his fingers. "Well… no, not really. I'm sorry."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're a dude?"

"W-what?"

"You're so quiet! And you hide behind your hair whenever you get embarrassed. Not to mention the whole twirl-your-finger-around-your-hair-when-you-get-nervous thing. And why so formal? Come on; be a man! I wanna hear you burp."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Do something manly. Come on."

Matthew's eyes widened as a huge rush of air pressed against the walls of his esophagus. He closed his mouth in attempt to keep it down, but the noise rushed past his lips and echoed throughout the room. Matthew slapped a hand over his mouth and turned the same shade of red as his shirt.

"Mattie, that was awesome!" Alfred laughed and clapped. "I didn't know ya had it in ya."

Matthew chuckled nervously. "Um, thanks?"

Angelique entered the room and cleared her throat. "Sorry I took so long. Here's your Earl Gray Tea with maple syrup, Mathieu," she said placing a tiny china cup into his hands. "You sure you don't want anything to drink, Prince-"

"Just… Alfred," he hissed through his teeth trying not to raise his voice. '_Do I have to remind everyone to drop the damn formal title?'_

"All right, "Just Alfred", do you want anything to drink?"

"Eh, just get me some ale or something."

"Uh, ale?"

"You know? That-" He stopped himself mid-sentence. '_She has to be playing with me. How could she NOT know what the best drink in the world is?_' "You know what I mean!"

"No I don't," Angelique said narrowing her eyes.

The smile slipped off Alfred's face, "You're kidding, right?"

"Why would I lie to you?" she shot back.

Alfred slammed his back against the couch. "No, I'm good then." Angelique eyed him over and turned to look back at Matthew. "Mathieu, can I have some help in the kitchen? I need-"

"Oh sure!" Matthew jumped out of the rocking chair before she could finish her sentence. Alfred watched them both leave and tried to find something to entertain himself with. He heard the two of them talking in the next room, and definitely heard his name mentioned. '_Are they talking about me behind my back?_' He stood from his seat on the couch and made his way over to the kitchen entrance, placing his ear against the door.

"Who?" a tiny voice called out from behind Alfred's feet. Alfred spun around expecting to see someone behind him, but there was no one. He chuckled nervously to himself and went back to listening to Angelique and Matthew.

"Who?" it asked again. Alfred looked back over his shoulder, his eyes shifting back and forth over the room. The hair on the back of his neck began to rise. _'Okay, they never said they had ghosts in this house… keep it together, you're just imagining things..'_

"Who?" He felt something pull at his pant leg.

"HOLY SHIT!" Alfred yelped and jumped up about ten feet in surprise. He lost his balance, fell backward and tumbled into the kitchen. Angelique squealed in surprise but went silent when she realized Alfred was on the floor.

"Pr… Alfred, what are you doing here?" Angelique corrected herself. She didn't feel like being yelled at for calling him a prince again.

There was an awkward pause before Alfred stuttered, "There's… there's a g-g-g-ghost in your house!" As he was speaking, a white ball of fuzz pranced into the room, a clapping noise echoing from its paws hitting the rough concrete. It walked onto Alfred's chest and licked his face. Alfred sputtered and tried to push his attacker off without much success. "Eww, get… off of me!"

"Kumahara!" Matthew cried out and picked the ball of fluff off of Alfred. Alfred sat up and glared up at Matthew.

"What the hell is that thing, some kind of mutated dog?"

"No!"

"Well it's too big to be a cat." Alfred glared at this new creature in Matthew's arms. In fact, he'd never seen whatever this thing was before.

Matthew set Kumajiro on the floor. "My… my father brought it back from an adventure about six years ago. He said it was something called a Polar Bear."

"Who?" The little bear questioned cocking its head and glancing at Alfred.

"Uh… I'm Alfred."

The little bear curled up in Alfred's lap. It closed its eyes and began to sleep. Matthew sighed and picked up the bear, earning an annoyed growl from his pet.

Alfred laughed. "I think your bear's confused."

"Well, I don't think he has a very good memory. He's always forgetting me."

"Then I think you should teach it better manners," Alfred grumbled and stood up brushing his shirt off. "I'll be back in the living room if ya need me." He patted Matthew on the back and said, "Besides, if you weren't so quiet, it wouldn't forget you. Be a little louder for once in your life."

"FINE!" Matthew shouted as he looked back at Alfred. Alfred jumped in surprise and looked over his shoulder.

"Now you've got it!" Alfred replied slapping Matthew on the back playfully once again. He went back into the living room and paused at the doorway, wondering if they were going to keep talking about him as he left. He pressed his back against wall and listened to Angelique and Matthew again with intent ears.

Angelique was rinsing off some dishes left over from an unfinished lunch as Matthew dried and put the clean dishware into their respected spots. The silence made the china sound ten times more boisterous than what most people considered them to be.

"Well, he's definitely one of royal blood," Matthew growled breaking the silence. "He's so arrogant! I mean, did you hear the way he talked to us? It's like none of our opinions matter. And he complains that his mother's terrible. What a hypocrite." Angelique opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Matthew continuing his rant. "Also, does he always have to be in other people's business? It's like he's waiting for the next gossip line to spread around town. And all those crazy orders. He's so bossy, and expects everyone to do as he says… come to think of it, why am I following them?"

Angelique stopped washing the dish she had in her hands and looked up at her brother. "What do you mean?"

"Back when we were outside, he told me to tell you to let him help. I didn't want him to, but I told you to let him help anyway. My mouth just moved on its own." He paused as if to gather his thoughts. "And back in the living room. He asked me to burp, which I never would do in the presence of company. Even though I didn't feel like it, I still did."

"I think it's just your imagination." Angelique focused back onto the plate between her fingers.

"My imagination? But I'm sure I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it, Mathieu!"

Matthew's gaze softened. "Angelique, do you know something about this?" Angelique remained silent and continued with her work. "Angelique, please. If you know what's going on, tell me. I won't be-"

CRASH!

The plate Angelique was washing slipped out of her hand and shattered on the floor.

"What happened?" Alfred stormed into the room after he heard the sound.

"Are you okay?" Matthew asked and looked at the dish now in pieces in front of her sister. "Here, I'll clean that up."

Angelique smiled and uttered a 'thanks' to her brother. She turned her attention to Alfred. "It's okay._ Mathieu's _taking care of it." She eyed Alfred over and continued, "How did you get in here so fast? You better not have been eavesdropping on us again!"

"Reflexes," Alfred lied. 'Besides_, it isn't eavesdropping if you're listening to a conversation about yourself. It's gathering information about what others really think about you.'_

Matthew finished sweeping up the pieces into a metal pan and walked out of the kitchen. Alfred leaned against the wall and yawned. Angelique frowned and returned to finishing up the remaining dishes.

"A little clumsy, aren't you?" Alfred chuckled.

"A little nosy, aren't you?" Angelique shot back. There was a bit of an awkward pause between the two of them. "Please don't order my brother around like that."

"Huh?"

"You've been telling my brother to do stupid things. Please stop."

"Hey, I'm just kidding around. It's not my fault if he follows what I say."

"He can't help it and you know it!" Angelique growled in frustration and attacked the grime on the mug in front of her.

Alfred didn't like where this conversation was going at all. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "So, where is your father anyway?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since last week."

"Last week… why so long?"

"He doesn't work around here. And besides, I think he said he was going to visit his drinking buddies before going into work last night. But that's okay. He's-"

"Papa! Je suis très content que tu sois de retour!" Matthew's voice called out from outside the door, making Angelique pause in mid sentence and hold her breath. She let out an excited squeal and ran past Alfred.

'_Is that their father?'_ Part of Alfred told him to mind his own business, but he ignored that voice quite well. Gathering his jacket from the couch, he bolted out the door to confront the man reuniting with Matthew and Angelique.

He was kind looking with shoulder-length, wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. The white part of his eyes where speckled with red. His chin grew several whiskers that made Angelique laugh as they tickled her cheek. While talking to Angelique in what Alfred guessed to be some sort of French, the man's eyes drifted up to meet Alfred's eyes. He paused, stood up from his bent position and gaped at Alfred.

'_What? He looks like he just saw a ghost! Of course, with those bags under his eyes, I'd say he is a ghost…'_ Alfred shuddered at the thought. _'No, keep it calm! He's not a ghost, he's just… overworked and stuff.'_

"_Mon dieu_," he whispered and pushed past Angelique. He gibbered something under his breath to Angelique, who immediately stiffened. She grabbed Matthew's wrist and led him inside, though Matthew couldn't take his eyes off of Francis. Those indigo orbs burned a hole into the Frenchman's skull, but the man only brushed the gaze off. Once Angelique had led her brother into the safety of their home, there was a dead silence between the man and Alfred, except for the slight shuffling sound Alfred's pants made when he shifted his weight from one foot to the next.

"What?" Alfred broke the silence.

There was another pause before the man answered in a harsh tone, "What are you doing here?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"Answer me! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was bored and decided to take a walk in town and-"

"_Non_! I mean "here" at my house!"

"Well I-"He cut off from his words and asked, "So, you're their father?"

The man chuckled a bit and replied, "For the most part, yes. My name is Francis."

"I'm-"

"Prince Alfred, I know."

"How did you know I-"

"Answer my question and tell me what you are doing here?"

"Well, as I was explaining before, I was walking through town, minding my own business, when I heard one of the castle guards crying out orders. I ran over to see what was happening, and they were trying to kidnap Angelique! Of course, being the hero I am, I ran over and beat the crap out of those guards and rescued them. Then they brought me back to their house to take a break. And then you showed up."

"Always the hero, huh?" Francis asked with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah…wait, how do you know about that?"

"Never mind. You should go back to where you came from."

"You're not the boss of me."

"If your story is true, they'll come looking for you here first. I thank you for helping Angelique, but now it is time to go."

Alfred would've argued, but he knew putting them back into danger was un-hero like, so he turned on his heels and looked into the direction of the castle.

"Fine, I'll leave. But I want to check and make sure you are all okay tomorrow. Ya know, just to make sure Godzilla didn't fry you with her dragon breath or anything."

Francis chuckled at Alfred's opinion of his mother. "As long as it's only for a few moments. Now go."

Alfred flashed a thumbs-up towards Francis and continued walking home. He felt Francis's gaze on his back until he disappeared into the woods leading up to the castle. The town wasn't far from the palace, but it still took Alfred at best, ten to fifteen minutes to trudge through the path. Birds let out their mournful cry as the bushes and trees shivered from the light breeze. Two squirrels danced along the path for a moment or two and disappeared into the shrubbery. Alfred continued, wishing he had someone to talk to. Alfred shuttered; the thought of being alone made his spine tingle. The hollow howl of the wind brushed his hair around his face, and he cuddled inside his jacket. _'Did I really spend all that time back at Matthew and Angelique's house? I thought it was only noon when I arrived._'

SNAP!

Alfred's breath caught inside his throat. He looked all around him for the origin of the sharp sound. His eyes flashed around the dark wood, with no success of finding the noise maker. Suddenly, a squirrel darted out in front of his feet and dropped the walnut clenched between its teeth. It glared up at Alfred with pure terror in its eyes and hesitated to move.

Alfred laughed and tried to calm himself. "Don't worry, Alfred… it's just those squirrels again. They're stalking me. Yeah…"

"Alfred?"

"HOLY SHIT IT TALKED TO ME! HELP! DEMON SQUIRREL!" Alfred jumped into a nearby tree branch and clung on for dear life.

"Alfred, calm down. It's only me." Alfred opened his eyes only to squint as a lantern's light blinded him. Alfred focused on the shape behind the lantern and realized it was only Toris. He loosened his grip on the tree branch and landed on the ground with a thud.

"God, Toris, don't sneak up on me like that."

"I'm sorry. We have to get back now. Her majesty's throwing a royal fit because no one can find you."

"Eh, let her blow a fuse. Maybe if we're lucky she'll die of a heart attack."

"Alfred!"

"What?"

"… never mind. We really should be getting back now. Come on, I'll lead you back."

"Hey, I'm not your damsel in distress. I'll lead us out of these woods." Alfred replied and held onto Toris' hand, dragging him along without struggle. Alfred felt confidence billow back into his stomach_. 'Good thing I left their house when I did. Toris is lucky I was here to save him from being lost. Poor guy was probably wandering around and scared to death all by himself.'_

A familiar shape was silhouetted against the moon. Alfred recognized it as the palace and sighed mentally. A few guards were digging around the yard, but stopped when they noticed the new arrival coming up the path.

"Your highness, we've been-"

"Yeah, I know guys. I'm back. Don't blow a gasket." Alfred walked past them and headed toward the doors. He released his grip on Toris and looked back at his friend. "Well, see ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." Toris turned away from Alfred and muttered, "I hope."

Alfred opened the doors and walked down the long hallway to the throne room. He paused at the high golden doors and straightened himself. He cleared his throat and pushed through the doors.

"Time to face the wicked witch of the east herself."

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

Boring chapter is boring. But next chapter we get to meet Alfred's loving mother. Oh joy! XD

And a big thanks to all my Russia stalkers! I'm so happy to feel loved. And of course, a big thanks to my reviewers:

**nupinoop296**, **Artificial** **Starlight**, **Arin** (my Russia stalker XD), **akane** **sarumara**, and **MarshmallowTree**

Also, a huge applause for my beta, darandomninja, for waiting so patiently for this chapter. I salute you!

Remember, constructive criticism encouraged. I want this story to be the best it can be for my readers.


	4. 3: The Confrontation and the Truth

_**Quick Author's notes:**_

_In case you're wondering, yes, I did stay up almost all night writing this. XD I'm sorry if this chapter is so boring, but I wanted to explain a few things to my readers. And I'll try to update the story again by the end of the week, but I can't make any promises. I should be studying for a college final right now… 3_

_No translations for this one. Unless you count Arthur's British, but it's nothing that you can't figure out from context clues. And if you can't figure it out, I'll gladly explain it. :D_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

_Lose Control – Natalia's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=_GyW0I-yjVE [May contain future spoilers if you think about it hard enough.]_

_Colors of the Wind – Arthur's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=CkA711L5WTY [Lame song choice is lame. -.-]_

_

* * *

_**Chapter 3 - The Confrontation and the Truth **_  
_

Alfred pushed through the doors and strolled into the throne room.

"You're highness! I shall announce your pre-"

"His majesty Prince Alfred coming through," Alfred called out. His voice seemed to stir the woman sitting at the end of the long room from her thoughts.

"You're late," she hissed. Her harsh tone made Alfred's blood run cold. He froze and took in a deep breath, gathering all the courage he could muster. He swallowed a little harder than normal and wiped away a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. _'Okay, breathe. You can do this. She's just your mother.'_

Alfred began his trek down the stairs and to the back of the room. His boots clopped against the red carpet, creating more noise than necessary. The chandelier lights flickered above him, casting an eerie shadow across his mother's face.

His mother crossed her right leg over her left and stared into his eyes. Alfred stopped dead in his tracks and tried his best to keep his fingers from twitching nervously. She lifted up a hand to brush her platinum blond hair out of her face and tucked the rogue strands behind her ear.

"Well?" She barked making Alfred flinch. "What do you think you were doing?"

Alfred swallowed hard and shoved his hands into his pocket. "Just… taking a walk."

"A walk, huh? Tell me, since when did you grow authority in my kingdom?"

"What? I-"

"Did you or did you not interfere with the royal guards this morning?"

Alfred felt the courage slip from his body. That stare she gave him was enough to drive any guilty man to full confession. '_Come on, Al. Get it together! She's just your mother, remember? The stupid old dragon. You can do this! Open your damn mouth and say something!'_

"I-" He cleared his throat and tried again. "They were taking their authority way too far. I was doing the right thing standing up to them."

"What I order my guards to do is of none of your concern." Her voice was monotone, but her words still pierced Alfred's confidence with deadly precision. "Besides, if you interfere with my royal soldiers, you are interfering with my wishes. I'm sure you do not want to see me upset, do you?"

Alfred's eyes widened and he looked down at the floor. Her icy eyes still dug into his skull, sending shivers down his spine. He took in a deep breath and searched for the right words to say.

"No, I guess not." He decided not to push his mother's anger any further.

"That's my boy." She cracked a smile and unfolded her legs.

Alfred snorted and hissed under his breath, "I'm not your boy."

"What was that?"

Alfred's heart skipped a beat. "I didn't say anything." He looked up from the ground to be locked into a staring contest with his mother. She smirked and stood up from her throne, walking over to circle her son like a hawk.

"Alfred, my child, I've raised you on my own for the past 14 years. I've given you the best that I can offer and kept you safe from the neighboring kingdoms. Not once have I ever struck you, and I've stuck my neck out for you quite a few times. However, it seems as if you've been taking my kindness for granted the past few months. Maybe I need to teach you a little respect, starting with that fr-"

"Queen Natalia! I have some urgent news!" A soldier burst into the room slamming the doors against the stone walls. His blond hair was slicked back behind his head and he wore the captain's uniform. The queen looked up from Alfred and to the guard.

"Yes, what is it, Captain Ludwig?" she hissed and walked away from her son. Alfred felt his shoulders slouch. He took in a deep breath to slow his heart rate and turned to look at the captain of the royal soldiers, Ludwig, confronting his mother. '_She's distracted… this is the perfect time to get the hell out of here!'_ As Queen Natalia conversed with Ludwig, Alfred opened a hidden door behind her throne. It was constructed originally in case the king and queen had to evacuate the castle in an emergency situation, but the only time it was used was when Alfred and his father would play hide-and-seek. As he crawled inside, Alfred heard his mother raise the volume of her voice.

"So it was all for nothing." She cursed under her breath.

"I'm sorry your majesty, but Angelique wasn't the servant either." Alfred paused recognizing Angelique's name.

Queen Natalia cleared her throat and began to speak again. "We must keep searching. The servant must fall into my hands before the end of this year. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, your highness!" Ludwig stood at full attention until Queen Natalia dismissed him. She didn't call out Alfred's name once to see where he went, but instead slumped back into her seat. There was a pause before Alfred heard her voice again.

"I must find the servant by the end of this year. Without them, all my hard work will have gone to waste."

Alfred waited to see if she'd continue, but there was only silence in the room. He turned around and began to crawl down the stone path until the stone ceiling was high enough for him stand up. He straightened his back, his spine crackling in protest and looked around.

'_Okay, what was the witch talking about back there? What did they call Angelique again… something_ _called "the servant" or something? Maybe that's why the guards were trying to take her, and the whole story she told me about Francis falling behind on his taxes was a lie. But why would she cover something like that up? … Unless she's hiding something from me. I have to get back to their house and find out what this is all about.'_

Alfred continued down the murky stone corridor, wishing he had a torch or something to light his way. The moonlight only cast more shadows on the wall instead of giving him the light he needed in order to see. Every creak, drip, and scrape made Alfred's heart pound in his chest. Something brushed past his ankle, making him shriek and fall backwards, cracking the back of his head against the stone. His vision went fuzzy for a few moments, and the world spun. He elevated his hand to feel a sticky substance coating the back of his head. With his knees buckling underneath him, Alfred used the wall to push himself into a standing position and continued down the dark corridor. His body resisted his forward motion and cried out in pain, but Alfred pressed himself forward.

'_I have to stay awake! I don't have that much farther to go. I can make it…'_ Apparently, Alfred was doing a good job convincing himself he'd make it, because the pain began to slip away from his body. There was no longer a trail of liquid dripping down his neck and his headache disappeared into thin air. '_Yes! That's it! Come on, I can do this!'_ Alfred pushed a large rock at the end of the tunnel out of his way and he found himself face to face with streams of moonlight. He shielded his eyes for a moment from the light and stepped out of the corridor.

"Yes!" he cried out and placed his boots into the mud underneath him. Alfred noticed a lovely fragrance in the air and looked around to see where it was coming from. He looked down and noticed his boot crushing a rose. The roses were everywhere. Alfred swore under his breath. '_Damn! Toris is gonna be pissed at me when he finds out! …Now, back to business. Finding out what Angelique knows.'_

Alfred walked to the edge of the garden and followed the pathways all the way to the woods. He froze and stared into the dark spaces of the forest. '_You know what… it's really late. I'm sure Angelique is sleeping... I'll wait until the morning._' He turned around and walked back into the palace to return up to his room.

The next afternoon, Alfred was awoken due to the sun's rays dancing through his window and onto his face. He forgot to close the curtains that covered the window after his escape yesterday, and now he was paying for it. He cracked a blue eye open, blinking to try and get used to the light disturbing his slumber, but decided it was still too early to wake up and rolled over onto his other side.

"Good afternoon, Alfred," a familiar annoying voice said.

"Leave me alone, Arthur. It's too early to get up yet." Alfred slid his pillow out from under his head and slapped it on top of his ear to block out the words interrupting his sleep. It seemed peaceful, until the blankets on top of him were yanked off of his body, allowing the frigid morning air to nip at his skin. He shivered and huddled his legs closer to his chest in attempt to keep himself warm.

"Don't you know what "leave me alone" means?" Alfred grumbled under the pillow.

"You do realize it's in the afty, right?" Arthur grumbled fighting to seize Alfred's pillow from his head. "For the love of the queen, you bloody-"

The pillow Arthur and Alfred clung onto ripped in half, sending Arthur backward and skidding across the floor. White feathers blanketed both of them as if it was snowing indoors, and Alfred sneezed as a feather attempted to fly up his nose. He sat up, feathers flying from their resting points, and he jumped out of his bed to brush himself off.

"Thanks a lot, Iggy! You owe me a new pillow."

Arthur sat up and rubbed his back. "Bloody hell, I'm getting too old for this nonsense. Someone my age should be retired as far away from you as possible."

"You're not even thirty years old yet."

"True, but you're going to drive me to an early grave."

Alfred walked over to Arthur and offered his hand forward to help Arthur off the ground. Arthur slapped it away and stood up by himself using the wall nearby for balance.

"There, I'm awake. You happy now?" Alfred crossed his arms over his chest and sat on his bed, picking up a feather to examine it.

"Jumping for joy," Arthur grumbled and massaged his spine. He sat on a wooden chair next to the doorway and let out an exasperated sigh. "Now about your lessons you skipped out on-"

"I ain't taking no more lessons from-"

"For god's sake, let me finish you impatient git!" Arthur cleared his throat. "I've decided after yesterday's events you could use some time to yourself."

Alfred glowered at him, obviously not amused. "Ha-ha. You're so funny, Iggy."

Arthur glanced over at him, his emerald eyes dull. "You think I'm joking?"

"Duh! I have you all figured out. You're here to keep me busy while my dragon of a mother rules my country with an iron fist. Then when I'm ready to take the throne, she can sneak up on me with her ninja army and take over the world. That's why I need to build a superhero league to fight her off and save the world from all the tyranny she's going to cause."

"Poppycock. Do you ever listen to yourself?"

"Better than listening to you."

"Well maybe if you had a shred of intelligence."

"Funny, coming from someone who never got out of this damn place while he had the chance. I could beat you in an intelligence test with both my eyes closed."

"It amazes me how you're all mouth and no trousers."

"In English, please."

"Exactly my point."

Alfred stood up from the bed and walked over to the doorway. "I don't have to sit here and listen to you. I have better things to do like make sure Francis is-"

"Francis?"

"Did I stutter? Yes, Francis."

"How do you know Francis?" Arthur stood up from his chair and blocked Alfred from walking out the door.

Alfred gazed down at Arthur and tried to step around him. However, Arthur kept blocking his way. "What do you mean, how do I know him? I do talk to people outside the castle."

"Where did you meet him?"

"While I was out in town. His kids Angelique and Matthew were in trouble yesterday and I saved them." Alfred got fed up with trying to step around Arthur and pushed him out of the way instead. Arthur followed at Alfred's heels grabbing for his wrist.

"Will you wait a minute, you wanker!"

"Why? I'm done talking to you."

Arthur felt irritation bubble inside the pit of his stomach. He succeeded in grabbing Alfred's wrist and stopped him for a moment. "Damn it, hold on for two seconds! I need to tell-"

"Let go!" Alfred ripped his arm backward in attempt to pull Arthur off of him but the older male continued to cling to his wrist. Alfred cried out in fury and pushed Arthur's chest backward, ultimately forcing Arthur's hand away from his wrist. Arthur stumbled backward but lashed back, this time grabbing onto Alfred's arm.

"I'm trying-"

"Don't-"Alfred whipped around and his shoulder collided with Arthur's nose. Alfred watched Arthur stagger backward clutching his injury. Thick blood began spilling out between the cracks of Arthur's fingers and dripped onto the floor. Alfred stammered, "Arthur… I- I didn't mean-"

"Get the hell away from me!" Arthur cried out, backing up from Alfred. His eyes began to well up with tears which he battled to keep inside his tear ducts.

Alfred walked over and tried to put his hand on Arthur's shoulder, but Arthur strayed from Alfred's path and turned around to walk away.

"Arthur, wait!" Alfred followed after him. Arthur picked up his pace from a quick saunter to a jog and eventually to a full sprint. Alfred followed close behind, knowing he was faster than Arthur. The gap between the two of them narrowed, and Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur to stop him from running any farther. Arthur flailed around to try and break his grip, but Alfred's hold on him was too strong. He cussed under his breath and gave up, knowing that Alfred had won.

"All right, what do you want?"

"Look, Iggy-"

"It's Arthur, dammit!"

"Arthur! I was just…" Alfred paused. '_Damn, this apologizing thing is a lot harder than it looks'_ "I… it's just sometimes your-"

"Oh, here we go again! Suddenly everything's my fault."

"Let me finish… please!" Arthur shut his mouth, shocked that Alfred would even consider saying the word "please", especially to him. "Sometimes you get under my skin and I don't know what to do to get you to stop. I'm … I'm sorry that I hurt you."

There was a pause between the two before Alfred let his grip around Arthur's chest loosen. Arthur turned to look at Alfred with a slight smile on his face. "That's more like it. Now, are you going to let me finish what I was trying to tell you?" Alfred nodded his head and followed Arthur to his bedroom. Arthur closed the door behind Alfred and locked it so no one could enter during their conversation.

Alfred flopped down on Arthur's bed and stretched. "All right, Iggy. You have my attention. Don't bore me."

Arthur stiffened his back and took in a deep breath. "You told me that yesterday you met Francis when you-"

"Totally came in like the coolest hero ever and vanquished the evil trying to capture Angelique!"

"… right. When you stopped the guards from taking Angelique away."

"Yeah, I already know all this. Get to the point!"

"Hold your horses! I'm getting there. The reason they wanted Angelique is because they thought she was "the servant"."

"What's that?"

"In order for you to understand, you need to know a little of your family history."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Not another history lecture."

Arthur cleared his throat and continued, "In your royal family, every generation gives birth to twins."

"How the hell do they give birth to twins every generation? I mean, you can't just wave a magic wand and say "Poof! You're going to have twins!"

"It's part of an ancient legend. Back when the country of Peleo-India was being formed, there were two twins born, Len and Rin. In that era, twins were seen as a curse and brought only doom to their kingdom. So the queen lied to her people and said that she only had one child, a girl."

"Hold on, why didn't she keep the son instead of her daughter? That would mean her daughter would become queen." Alfred shuddered. "Women and power shouldn't be used in the same sentence."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, the queen chose her daughter as the one who would rule, because she believed a man in power would only lead the kingdom to ruin. So her son was stripped of all royal title and led his life as a servant. Eventually the queen passed away, and her daughter, Rin, came into power. However, she was spoiled, malicious, and unjust. Blind by her lust for power, she ruled the country with an iron fist."

"Sounds like someone else I know."

"Will you stop interrupting me? Even though she was cruel to everyone, her brother still remained faithfully at her side. The queen ordered him to do her dirty work, which he would execute without questioning. Eventually, the people got sick of her tyranny and they formed a revolution. Before the people of their country could breach the castle, the queen's younger brother, Len, created a deal with the queen. Instead of the citizens capturing and murdering Rin, they merely killed her brother instead."

"So he decided to be the hero and take her place, huh?"

"You could say that. His sister realized that the only reason her brother was dead was because of her selfishness. In pure hatred of what she had become, she laid a curse on the new royal family coming into power. She stated that every generation will have twins until they have fixed her mistake for her. The first born twin will become the king of the country while the latter twin will be born for the sole protection of the first child."

"Okay, you lost me."

"Because of her curse, each generation of the royal family will have twins. Both twins share an internal bond with each other. Since Rin was the second twin and looking for amends to her guilty conscience, she cursed the second twin to be the servant to the first twin. That way the first twin wouldn't have to suffer the same fate her brother had lived out. She did this because she thought it would fix her mistake. Now do you get it?"

"I think so. So, which twin am I?"

"You're the first born. That's why-"

"So I have someone who listens to me no matter what and I can't get hurt." Alfred paused and his smile widened. "Sweet!"

"Not entirely."

"What do you mean, "not entirely"? How can it not be cool?"

"There is a darker side to this curse. When the two-"

"Ve, Sir Kirkland!" A knock sounded from Arthur's door.

Arthur held his breath hoping the guard was only there for a moment or two. "Yes, what is it?"

"Her majesty requests your presence at once."

Arthur cursed under his breath and turned back to Alfred. "We'll talk about this later."

Alfred shot up from his sitting position on the bed. "No wait! It was just getting to the good part! You have to finish what you were going to say. What dark side? Who's my other twin? Why haven't I met him? When did we get separated? Where is he? Why does my mother need to find him so badly? What are they planning?"

"I will finish once I see what the queen wishes of me," Arthur took in a deep breath and lowered his voice. "I will answer all your questions later."

"Oh, come ooon!" Alfred whined. "I have to know now!"

Arthur grabbed a few papers off his desk and turned back to Alfred. "I will only be a few hours. You can wait that long, can't you?"

"No."

"Too bad." He shuffled out the door and met up with the man in the hallway.

The boy who summoned Arthur was around Alfred's age with chocolate colored eyes. He had short, chestnut colored hair with a wild strand that curled to the right side. The boy smiled and bowed at the waist, "Ve, good afternoon, Arthur."

"As well to you, Feliciano," Arthur replied and bowed slightly. Glancing back at Alfred with quivering emerald eyes, he shut the door behind him. Alfred perceived the angst Arthur's eyes meant he didn't want to face the queen, so Alfred scurried over to the door. He flung it open with so much force it smashed into the other side of the wall.

"Arthur!" He yelled out, but found no one in sight. His head whipped from side to side trying to find any trace of his teacher, but with no luck. '_Something's wrong. My _hero intuition can sense _it.' _He paused and looked down at the floor. _'Why would Arthur be nervous about seeing my mother? He's never feared my mother before. And he had to leave right before he told me who my twin was. I know this was planned.'_

Alfred huffed under his breath._ 'Well, I guess I can go see Angelique now that Arthur left. I'm sure she… wait, didn't Arthur say that the dragon thought Angelique was my twin, and that was the reason they were trying to capture her? They're obviously looking for the servant, and I'm sure Arthur knows who my twin is. Oh crap, what if the she-devil knows that Arthur knows who my twin is? What if she's going to torture Arthur until he cracks under her power and spills everything he knows? I have to save him!'_

Alfred ran down the corridors of the castle in search for his mentor. The first place he checked was the throne room where the queen normally presided. However, the room was empty. From there, he ran clear across the palace where his mother's room was. Again, there was no one in sight. Alfred leaned against the wall on the right side of his mother's room.

'_At this rate, I'll never find him…'_ Alfred growled and slammed his fist against the wall. There was a hollow thump from behind him, making Alfred go rigid. He turned around to see a section of the stone was indented into the wall. '_Another secret room? How many does this castle have?'_ Alfred threw all his weight into the stone in order to push it farther into the wall. Soon the stone collapsed onto the floor behind it, and Alfred could crawl into the tiny hole. There was a heavy scent of mold in the air and the walls were covered with some kind of slimy substance.

The room he crept into was in pure darkness. Alfred found a torch holder next to him, and knew that's how he'd have to illuminate the area. He backed out of the room to grab a box of matches in his bedroom and returned to light the stick next to him. The whole room brightened up at once to destroy the gloom it was plunged into.

Alfred looked around to find a desk in the right corner. There was a feather quill resting in a bottle of outdated ink and a letter adjacent to it. Alfred walked over, brushing a cobweb off the chair and blew the dust off the piece of paper. He coughed as the dust rushed into his airways and examined the letter closely. He was about to read it when a portrait to his left caught his eye.

The portrait contained a much younger version of his father. His violet eyes looked calm and peaceful, and his unruly blond hair disturbed the formal appearance he was trying to portray. What caught Alfred's attention was the fact that his father wasn't alone in the portrait. A beautiful woman stood next to him with long, curly black hair and bright blue eyes.

'_Okay, she's way too beautiful to be the old cow. And I'm sure it's not Aunt Evangeline because she had blond hair like my father, not black. So, who is she?'_

Alfred turned his attention back to the letter on the table. His blue eyes had to pause every once and a while to try and figure out what the text was trying to say.

_My Dearest Kateri,_

_I am writing to inform you that I plan to refuse my position as king and let my younger sister, Evangeline, take the throne instead. I will bring Alfred with me so we can be a family once again. No more politics ruling my life. All I want is to be with the woman I truly love and raise the family I helped create. The marriage between Natalia and I will be annulled, and she will be sent back to Alba Ruthenia. We should be together again soon. _

_Yours Forever,_

_Joseph Fredrick Jones_

'_Well, apparently he was in love with this Kateri woman, because he said "we'll be a family once again" so... what if… Natalia isn't my real mother and this Kateri person is? Then why isn't she ruling instead of the pig? I have to find out more about this woman. Maybe Arthur knows something about it or… wait, I almost forgot! I was trying to find Arthur and see what the royal pain in the ass needed him for.'_

Alfred darted back into his mother's bedroom leaving the area behind him fully lit and the stone door still open. He darted down the long corridor leading away from his mother's room and was about to turn into the hallway on his right when he crashed into something. The force made him fall backward onto the concrete.

"Who the fu-" His words were cut off when he was staring at Feliciano, the man who took Arthur to see the queen. "Feli, what are you doing here?"

The brunette rubbed the back of his head and sprung up into a sitting position. "Ve, Ludwig asked me to get you, but I couldn't find you in Arthur's room, so I looked in your room. You weren't there either, so I was running around trying to find-"

"Wait, what does Ludwig want with me?"

"Ludwig said that her majesty wanted to see you immediately and sent me to find you. It's important."

"Wait, so you know where Arthur is?"

"Of course!" Alfred smirked and grabbed Feliciano's hand, earning a squeak from the timid boy. "Ve, Prince Alfred, where are we going?"

"Tell me which room they're in."

"Um, they're in the courtyard out behind the garden."

" Hey, Feli, how'd you like to play a game?"

"Oh, I love games! What are we playing?"

"Secret Agent."

**To Be Continued**

So I'm not sure if I answered any important questions in this chapter. (I may have created more instead of eliminating a few. XD) But what's the fun of reading if the author tell you everything in the beginning of the story, right? :)

Again thanks a lot to my reviewers:

**Demoness** **Drakon**, **nupinoop296**, **serene528moon**,** o-chan**,** akane sarumara**,** MarshmallowTree**, and **vine**!

As well as a giant thank you to our beta, **darandomninja**, who we're surprised hasn't lost all patience with my lovely lack of explaining myself! And her comments are always made of pure awesomeness (almost if not as awesome as Prussia). You rule so hard! 8D

We never expected to have so many people interested in our story. We're not worthy! *tears of joy*

_(Note from Ninja (beta person)!~ Sorry if this chapter took too long to come out. Please do not blame the awesome writers. Instead blame me, because it's my fault. I took too long to beta this chapter. )_


	5. 4: The Rescue and the Betrayal

_**Translations:**_

_buon giorno – Italian – Good morning_

_Vouz avez plein de merde – French - You are full of shit (I did say this fic was rated "T" right?)_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

Actually… there are none for this chapter, sorry. If you have any suggestions though, we'd be happy to consider them. =)

* * *

**Chapter 4 - The Rescue and the Betrayal  
**

"Ve, secret agent?" Feliciano chirped. "That sounds like fu-"

"Shh!" Alfred covered Feliciano's mouth. He strained his ears to listen for approaching footsteps he thought he heard coming down the corridor. However, he brushed it off as paranoia and continued in a whisper, "Do you want the guards to hear us?"

"But I'm a guard," Feliciano giggled.

"I know, but you said so yourself; the captain is looking everywhere for me. He might not have sent just you to find me."

"But Ludwig needs the other guards to watch over the garden, the entrance ways, the borderline, the-"

"Lieutenant Feliciano," growled a forthcoming voice. Alfred's body straightened, and he cursed under his breath. He turned his head frantically for something to hide behind and chose a circular pillar of solid stone. He slowed his breathing down and cautiously peeked around the edge. Trudging down the hallway was none other than the captain of the guards himself.

Feliciano immidiently snapped to attention and saluted. "Ve, buon giorno, Ludwig."

Ludwig sighed and hid his hands behind his back. "As you were." Feliciano's shoulders slouched and the dazed look returned to his face. Ludwig continued, "Did you find the prince anywhere?"

Alfred felt the blood roar in his ears. _'Come on, Feli, cover for me. Lie! Lie like you've never lied before! … Has Feli ever lied in his life? That's beside the point. Feli, don't do anything stupid.'_

"No, Ludwig, I didn't find him," Feliciano chirped. Alfred let out a sigh of relief. Feliciano added, "_He_ found _me_!"

"Feli!" Alfred growled a little too loud. He covered his mouth with his left palm and held his breath. Ludwig's head snapped toward Alfred's direction, and he started to walk over to the circular pillar Alfred was behind. Alfred risked a small peek to the side to see Ludwig was nowhere in sight. He then walked forward and locked onto familiar hazel eyes mere inches in front of his own.

Alfred swallowed the shriek tearing to escape from his throat and brought his index finger up to his lips to keep Feliciano from saying anything. God forbid the brunette give away his position again! Alfred moved his eyes to study the shape coming around the other side of the pillar. Once he was sure where Ludwig was coming from, he darted back into his hiding spot, thankful the blond hadn't noticed him.

"As I was saying," Ludwig cleared his throat, "keep searching. The queen is growing impatient."

"You can count on me, Ludwig!" Feliciano brought his hand back up to salute his captain. Ludwig turned on his heels and marched back down the corridor until his boots were the only reminder of his recent presence. Alfred stepped out from behind the circular pillar and glanced around to make sure that Ludwig was indeed gone.

"That was way too close for comfort," Alfred sighed, exasperated. He looked over at Feliciano, who was staring off into space. '_Probably found an interesting speck or something to look at. Maybe taking Feliciano with me isn't the best idea. He's too loyal to Ludwig. I'd ditch him, but then I'd have to search for Arthur on my own, and I don't know where to look._' As Alfred took a step forward, he noticed Feliciano's hand fly to the corner of his belt and grab a long brown handle.

Alfred's eyes darted forward to see what took Feliciano's attention. He scanned the stone walls until his eyes rested upon a shadow lurking in the back of the corridor. Alfred felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle with dread. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the rapid movement of Feliciano's arm. '_Holy shit, Feliciano's actually gonna fight! I can't believe it's… white?_'

"Please! Don't hurt me! I know your great Aunt and Uncle Ferrari!" Feliciano cried out waving around a long white flag on a wooden stick. Alfred groaned and smacked his face with his palm. '_How the hell did he end up as one of our soldiers?_'

"My, who?" a feminine voice questioned. Alfred thought he recognized the voice but brushed it off as just his nerves, or at least until he identified the girl walking toward them.

"Angelique? How'd you get in here?" Alfred questioned through his palm.

"The front door. You really should have your soldiers guard this place better. The only ones I saw were the ones already walking around the castle. Anyway, I have a bone to pick with you!"

"Not now. I have to rescue someone first. Come back later."

"But-"

"Go away!" Alfred growled, walked past her, and looked over his shoulder. "Come on, Feli, let's start our game."

"Ve, this should be fun!"

Angelique put her hands on her hips. "A game? You're blowing me off for a stupid game?"

"Not just any game." Alfred ran down the hallway with Feliciano trailing on his heels. "But a girl like you wouldn't understand. Go be the annoying girl everyone wants to kill somewhere else."

Angelique let out an angered grunt and dashed after the boys. "You're not getting out of my grasp this easily."

~o~o~

"ACHOO!" Alfred rubbed his nose on the sleeve of his jacket, earning a disgusted glance from Angelique.

"You've got to be the worst prince I've ever seen," she muttered.

"What did you expect, a pansy?" Alfred peered through the rose bushes only to duck back into his hiding spot. "Dammit, this place is dripping with guards."

"I told you there wasn't much resistance when I entered the castle. Don't you listen to anyone but yourself?"

"I'm sorry what?"

Angelique slapped her forehead. "Honestly, calling you an idiot would be an insult to all the stupid people in the world."

"Don't you shut up? Remind me why I brought you along with us again?"

"You didn't. I still have to talk to you later, and I don't want to lose you. Did you know you caused Mat-"

"SHH! Damn, why are women so loud?"

"Well maybe if you would lis-"

"Shut up! I can't hear what they're saying." Alfred spread apart a few leaves and roses blocking his view. He took in a sudden breath of air as a guard's footsteps whooshed by him, but relaxed as they gained a farther distance.

Alfred stared at the center of the garden, called the courtyard. It was an open area with statues and water fountains splattered everywhere to add beauty. In the middle of the once tranquil area was an outside pavilion invented for staff to relax and take in their surroundings. There was several glass tables with dainty chairs tucked under them, and in the center of each table stood a bouquet of freshly picked white and red roses.

Seated at the center tables was Natalia, sipping her tea without a care in the world. Directly to her left was a man, but Alfred was too far away to see the defining features of the man's face. Across from his mother sat Arthur, who didn't look nervous at all. In fact, he looked rather calm.

"Is that who I think it is?" Angelique questioned, pushing Alfred out of the way to get a better view.

"The old hag herself," Alfred stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"Not her! I mean the man sitting next to her. The blond one."

"Arthur?"

"Yes! What is he-"

"Don't worry, he's harmless."

"I know. He's well acquainted with my father."

"Arthur and Francis know each other?" '_That would explain why he reacted the way he did when I mentioned Francis' name._'

"Yes. Arthur doesn't seem to like Francis very much, so I think he only visits to make sure Mathieu isn't hurt or anything."

"So he's been stalking Matthew? I knew there was something off about him, but I didn't think he was a pedophile."

"…What?"

"Never mind. We'll talk about that later."

"You really shouldn't disrespect-"

"I said later for a reason! I can't hear what they're saying." Alfred strained his ears to understand to the conversation between his mother and Arthur.

"So, _Iggy_, do you have anything to report to me as of late?"

Arthur flinched at his nickname, but merely cleared his throat and answered, "I've recently contacted Kiku, a young prince in ChinSei. His brother is the emperor, Yao, who you've kept close tabs on for the past few years. According to Kiku, Yao has been extremely friendly towards the ruler of Usra. He said they plan on increasing their foreign relationships, but their motives are yet unknown."

The queen's eyebrows furrowed with disgust. "I will not have that bastard of a ruler getting anywhere near Usra. Should they form an alliance, they will surely be the end of us all, if I'm not Yao's murderer first."

"You must remember, your majesty, the emperor holds close bonds with Hellas Graecia as well. If you plan to attack him, you'll most likely set us into a worldwide war."

"That is true, but as long as Usra stays out of ChinSei's hands, I'll take on anything the enemy thinks they can dish out."

"But that would mean that countless deaths will occur for no reason at all."

"What happens to these people are of no concern to me. The only reason I agreed to marry Joseph was to get in between the two countries in the first place. Surely you already know that."

"As you've told me countless times."

"Then you must understand why I'm doing this."

"As clear as crystal."

"And you will follow all my orders?"

"As soon as they are prepared, your highness."

Natalia set down her cup and smiled. "Iggy, you're one of my most trusted subjects. I knew I could count on you from the moment I met you."

"Please, your majesty, you don't need to flatter-"

"Don't interrupt me." The queen sighed and smirked. "You are eternally loyal to me, giving me any information on anyone I wish. You're deceitful, cruel, and a wonderful liar. Everyone you meet believes you are truly faithful to this country, but I know deep down who you actually are. You came to this land with me in order to hide my true intentions. Joseph seemed to trust you, and that fool of a child is too stupid to think you'd lie to him. I'm sure you managed to tell false stories to him this afternoon about the past, just like we planned. Once he figures out his twin is in danger, he'll try to be the hero and save his twin from a horrible fate. And even though he thinks he's doing the right thing, he'll lead me right to "the servant", and I'll have you to thank."

"Queen Natalia, I-"

"-deserve all the credit I'm granting you. After all, you are my best spy."

Angelique's jaw dropped. She shouted, "I can't believe it! Arthur's a spy for-"Alfred tackled Angelique and covered her mouth, earning a surprised squeak from both her and Feliciano. His eyes shifted to the edge of the bush where several soldiers shifted and tried to figure out where the noise had come from. There was a shout from his mother, and the guards began to run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Suddenly, all motion and noise stopped with the exception of the rapid heartbeat pounding in Alfred's ears. He held his breath, highly alert for any sign of motion.

"I think they're gone," Feliciano sighed and peered out of the bushes. His eyes widened and he let out a yelp, leaping backwards and landing on to his back.

"Feli, what's wrong?" Alfred questioned releasing Angelique.

Feliciano's right hand clutched his chest as he used his left elbow to prop himself up. "Ludwig, you scared me! Please don't do that." Alfred's muscles tensed up. _'Ludwig? Oh shit, thanks a lot Angelique!' _It wasn't long until Alfred felt something yank him up by the shirt collar into a standing position and held his hands together. Angelique watched the guard handling Alfred and tried to jump up to help Alfred out, but she was grabbed by her hair and held by Ludwig. Feliciano bit his lip and cried out, "Ve, Ludwig, don't be mean to Angelique!"

Ludwig shook his head and replied, "Sorry, Feliciano, but this is the only way to keep her from striking back… I found that out the hard way."

"And I'd kick you in the balls again if I could swing my foot back far enough!" Angelique growled, her hands clinging to his wrists in attempt to free herself.

"Wow, you have a feisty one," the guard holding onto the back of Alfred's shirt chuckled. Ludwig didn't look amused. "It seems as if the tables have turned, huh brat?" Alfred recognized the voice as the same guard he defended Matthew and Angelique against back when they had first met. He opened his mouth to say something, but Natalia interrupted him.

"Ah, you found him," she snickered gazing into Alfred's eyes. "You seem to appear at all the wrong times, don't you Alfred? Alfred tried to swallow, but his mouth dried up. '_I can't back down to her in front of Angelique! I have to be strong for her. She has to know that I'll save her and everything will be okay.'_ Natalia cocked her head, her platinum blond hair swinging to the right, and she continued, "Don't feel like talking to me today, huh?"

"Your majesty," Arthur panted while running up behind her. He took one look at Alfred and inhaled a huge gulp of oxygen. After three seconds or so, he turned his attention back to the queen but seemed to be at a loss for words.

An eerie smirk graced her lips and she walked over to Angelique. "Angelique… weren't you that girl I ordered my soldiers to capture not more than a few days ago?" Angelique nodded her head slowly, but her timid nature disintegrated into rage as she glared into Arthur's emerald eyes. Natalia put her finger under Angelique's chin to better look into Angelique's coffee colored irises and frowned. "Arthur, I thought you said Alfred's twin is female."

"She is," Arthur replied avoiding Angelique's glance of confusion, "just like in the legend."

"Funny, Angelique looks nothing like that dipstick of a son I have," she turned her attention to the older blond.

"Hey!" Alfred barked in protest, but the queen paid no attention to him.

She continued, "You wouldn't _dare_ lie to me, would you _Iggy_?"

"Of course not!" he defended with a little too sharply for the queen's tastes. He paused and let out a light breath. "I have no reason to." The queen opened her mouth to say something.

"You're a disgrace!" snapped another female voice. Natalia turned her head to look over at Angelique, who was still struggling ferociously against Ludwig once again.

"Excuse me?" Natalia hissed and directed her attention back to Angelique.

"I can't believe you! You're a spy for the queen? How could you? I trusted you! The whole town trusted you! You said you were going to bring the right rulers back into power again! You said you were going to protect the future. All those times you warned us about danger...were those all lies too? I can't believe you'd sink this low! What do you have to gain? You should be ashamed of yourself. Honestly, how do you live with yourself, knowing you betrayed my country? You're nothing but a thief and a coward!"

A loud cackle interrupted Angelique's speech. In all her years of living, Natalia had laughed so much; it kind of scared everyone. She wiped a tear from her eye and choked out through her gasps of breath, "Oh, is that so? Seems he's been doing a better job than I thought he was."

Arthur chuckled coolly and replied, "Of course. I wouldn't betray you, my queen."

"Vouz avez plein de merde!" Angelique barked. Arthur cringed, understanding a little of her sentence.

"You have a tough spirit, don't you," Natalia closed the space between her and Angelique. "I hate it. Ludwig, make sure she's never heard from again."

"What?" Angelique and Arthur both questioned in unison.

"She knows too much. I can't have her blabbering everything she heard to everyone."

"You can't do that!" Alfred's voice shot out. Natalia's icy eyes snapped over in his direction. He flinched with her sudden movement but took in a deep breath and began to speak again in a more timid voice. "You… you can't. I w-won't allow it."

"You're talking back to me?" The queen's face relaxed, expressionless.

Alfred hesitated and took in a deep breath. '_Okay, it's now or never. Time to be the hero you always wanted to be._' "I'm sick… and tired of you ruling without caring for anyone but yourself. The only reason my father married you was so they'd leave the love of his life alone. You aren't even supposed to be here right now. You were supposed to be shipped back to Alba Ruthenia when he resigned his position to be king. What makes you think you have so much power here?"

"How do you know all this?" Natalia asked glancing sideways at Arthur.

"I-" Alfred stopped and cursed under his breath. '_Why the fuck can't I keep my mouth shut!_'

"Ludwig, make sure he suffers his friend's fate. I can't have either of them telling anyone."

"But won't the country's citizens figure out that their prince has gone missing," Ludwig questioned, "especially around the time for him to turn 21."

"An excellent point." Natalia turned to him. "All we have to do is find his twin and convince the people that she's the real Alfred. They're too stupid to notice the difference."

"Sure they won't," Alfred grumbled.

Natalia snarled, "You're really starting to annoy me. Children should be seen, not heard."

"Isn't that a famous saying or something? Why don't you tell us all about your wisdom, starting with the definition of 'Ignorance is bliss' ... "

Natalia's face turned scarlet. "I realize it's already too late, but have you ever grasped the idea of thinking before speaking?"

"Is that the **best** you could come up with? Why don't you take your time and come back with something that is actually **worthy** of a response."

"I dare you to repeat yourself. I want to see those words come back and kick you in the ass." She lifted up the side of her dress to grab a blade strapped to her left leg. "This time with my help."

"I guess you never had any friends growing up," Alfred eyed the blade now being pressed up against his neck, "and I can see why."

"Not so funny now, are you?" Natalia had a smirk spread across her face. Alfred held his breath as she inched closer to him. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

"No," Alfred whispered, "You need a breath mint."

"You little-"

"Wait one moment!" A hand grabbed Natalia's wrist.

"Who dares-" She turned her head to see jade eyes glaring up into hers. "Arthur?"

"My lady, don't soil your hands with his blood. Allow me to do it instead." He bowed and smiled courteously.

She stared at him, a stone expression written on her face. "Always such the gentlemen to me."

He kissed her hand gently and replied, "Of course, you are my one and only queen."

"Very well. You can kill off the little brat. In the meantime, I'll search for his twin… and once I find her, my brother will be mine and only mine."

"As you wish," Arthur walked forward, ordering the guards holding Angelique and Alfred to follow him. He caught a glimpse of Alfred's eyes but ignored him, leading the four people down into the darker corridors of the castle. As he entered the last passageway toward the dungeon, he pulled out his sword and stared at the guards. "Now, leave me to my work."

"_As you wish_," the guard mimicked Arthur's earlier words and pushed Alfred forward. Ludwig stared at Arthur for a few moments, but was reminded to move by his comrade. They both exited the hallways without another word.

Arthur held the sword up to his face so the blade split his vision into two halves. "I'm sorry, about everything, Angelique… Alfred. Please forgive me."

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

You're free to shoot us both now. ^^

Thanks to darandomninja for betaing again! :D We are forever in your debt! *starts bowing*

And once again, thanks to:

**Kiesha**, **The-FCI-Prez**, **MarshmallowTree**, **Demoness** **Drakon**, **serene528moon**, **nupinoop296**, and **Hinata** **Uzumaki-sama**!

You guys are the reason I wanted to write the next chapter on the last sunny day of the week. All you non-reviewers should praise them, or this wouldn't have been out until Saturday or later!

Hopefully the next chapter should be out by the end of this week. But I can't make any promises. I'll try really hard, but please don't be mad at us if we don't update until next week. Byes!


	6. 5: The Fear and the Past

_**Translations:**_

_Hej, anden/__ første__ Mathias – Danish – Hey, second/first Matthew_

_Koma fljótt – Icelandic – Come quickly_

_På gensyn – Danish – See you later_

_Oh für die Liebe des alten Fritz – German – Oh for the love of old Fritz_

_Søren = Denmark _

_Mathias = Norway_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

_Innocence – Matthew's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=vLXVTPe9qEg_

_Prisoner of Love – Joseph's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=oBFItjmhVO0_

_I'll shut up now and let you read. ;D_

* * *

**Chapter 5 – The Fear and the Past**

"ALFRED!" Matthew yelled springing up from his resting position on the couch. His hair was matted to his head, and his clothes clung to his soaked body. His head teetered from side to side, deciphering where he was. '_Was… was it only a dream? But it seemed so real. I could've sworn I was standing right next to him…_'

Matthew sighed and brushed his forehead with his fingertips. Blood-soaked bandages that Francis had frantically wrapped last night hugged the circumference of his head. '_I don't even remember hitting the back of it my head on anything sharp. The wound just started to bleed on its own. The only thing I can remember is being hurt in my nightmare, and that's about it, but dreams don't come true like that, do they? What time is it?_'

Matthew pushed the patched blanket off of his legs and trudged over to the window, his shirt slipping off his right shoulder. The clock in the town square began to chime, singing eleven deep tones. Pigeons that rested on the clock's bell tower walls flew off into the sky and decided to perch on a nearby statue instead. '_Aww, I missed breakfast… oh well, brunch is just as nice too._'

Breakfast was Matthew's favorite time of the day. Normally he would wake up at the crack of dawn and make everyone in the house a variation from pancakes with maple syrup to a huge plate of eggs, toast, fried potatoes, and sausage. It normally depended on what time he woke up at. But today, the family let him sleep in while they began their day without him. Matthew walked across the cold floor and into the kitchen, grabbing a skillet off the wall.

As he placed the pan over the fire, there was a series of knocks and the sound of the front door slamming into the wall adjacent to it. "Hej, anden Mathias!"

'_Well, at least he knocked this time._' Matthew sighed and called out, "What do you want, Søren?"

"Hey, I need you to do me a favor."

"But I-" Matthew was cut off by Søren grabbing his hand and yanking him out the door. '_So much for breakfast!_' Søren dragged Matthew out past the clock tower and down the pathway towards his house.

"Hej, første Mathias!" Søren called out to the boy lying in his lawn. Mathias peeked over the top of his book to see who entered his yard and went back to reading without a word. Søren led Mathew up to Mathias and folded his arms over his chest.

"Okay, tell him that I'm not bossy!"

"Huh?" Matthew blinked in surprise. '_This is why you dragged me out of my house before breakfast?_'

"Mathias says that I'm being too demanding when I tell him he can't trim his bushes like trolls. It's creeping me out!"

"It amazes me you're afraid of your own kind," Mathias interjected without looking up from his book, but Søren didn't seem to pay attention.

"Tell him I'm trying to keep the neighborhood from running from his house in fear! It's not just me that thinks they're disturbing."

Matthew sighed. "Well… I think they look like guardians to the house or something. I think he made them to keep people away."

"I knew you'd agree with me!" Søren's smile slipped, and he unfolded his arms. "Wait, what? Why would he want stupid bushes to scare people away from his house?"

"To keep idiots like you out." Mathias turned the page of his book. His words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Søren began to rant about how creepy trolls were and how they don't belong in people's gardens. Matthew nodded his head without really comprehending what Søren was saying. '_Doesn't he realize how much Mathias pokes fun at him… or how no one really pays attention when he rants like this?_'

"… I mean really! I've heard of watch dogs, but watch trolls? Who's bright idea was-"

"Mathias, Søren, coma fljótt! You're late for the meeting!" A boy with almost silver hair ran up to the yard, looking as if he just ran a marathon.

"Whoa, is it that late already," Søren whistled and looked over at the clock tower. Mathias grumbled and put his book down at his side."

"What meeting?" Matthew asked cocking his head to the side. The three of him stared at him and then exchanged glances with each other.

"Oh, just a stupid town meeting," Søren laughed while rubbing the back of his head. "Nothin' really important. Hey, we'll talk later, okay anden Mathias? Great! På gensyn!" The three of them dashed off, speaking in three different languages, but none that Matthew could fully understand.

'_Sometimes I wish Peleo-India wasn't such a diverse place. But…I don't remember the town holding meetings before,_' Matthew shook his head, realized he was alone, and sighed. '_I guess I can go home and make my pancakes now. So much for-_'

"YO!"

Matthew felt something slam into the back of his upper torso, forcing his balance to falter and he tumbled forward. He tried to stop his fall by holding out his hands, but his arm strength caved under the pressure of both his weight and the object behind him. Matthew turned his head to the right so his cheek met the cold earth instead of his nose.

'_What the..._' He clenched his eyes to keep the surrounding dirt from blurring his vision. '_Who hit me?_'

"Peep!"

'_Okay, don't tell me that chicks are now eating Rapid Grow!_..._No, whatever fell on me feels human._'

"Peep! Peep!"

Once Matthew was sure the dirt in front of him settled, he blinked and sneezed out the debris that floated into his nose. A few inches in front of his face was a mass of yellow fuzz. '_Gilbird? Then that means..._' Matthew felt someone grab his upper arm and lift him to his feet.

"Guess you didn't know my awesomeness was coming through," a male chuckled as he picked up the little bird into his palms. "Nothing's broken, right? Not many people can say they got hit by the awesome me and survived."

"Oh, hey Gilbert." Matthew smiled. "Why were you running?"

Gilbert turned to face him. "Lizzy was chasing me again. That woman can't resist me." Matthew felt his smile falter. '_Some people will never learn._' "Actually, I was coming to find you."

"M-me?" Matthew blinked in shock. '_Why would Gilbert be looking for me of all people?_'

"Well, Francis said Angel was going to be away for a bit, and he wanted my awesomeness to check up on you." Gilbert began going off on how awesome he was (again), and Matthew chose to simply tune him out. Besides, he heard this speech one too many times and probably could recite it by heart.

'_Figures he'd listen to Francis. Why else would he pester me?_' Once he was sure Gilbert was done talking, Matthew groaned, "I'm not a child anymore. You really don't need to watch over..."

Matthew squeaked as Gilbert put an arm around his frail shoulders. "Come on! Who in their right mind would refuse hanging out with me? Don't worry, I'll try not to make you look like a loser next to-"

"GILBERT!"

Matthew felt something swish past his head and clatter on the ground next to him. He threw himself into Gilbert's chest and clung onto him around the waist, the loud noise startling him. Gilbert didn't seem fazed by the noise. However, he did mind the fact Matthew was now clinging to his torso. His muscles tensed as his crimson eyes darted towards the rampaging girl. Elizabeta was definitely going to kill him this time (even if he was too awesome to die). He looked back at Matthew and tried to pry him off, but the little guy had a stronger grip than he thought.

"Dammit, Matt, I know I'm awesome, but you don't need to praise me for it now!" Gilbert yelled in frustration. He was about to speak again, but Elizabeta let out a high pitched squeal and interrupted his thoughts. Gilbert paused and heard a rapid clicking noise. He looked back into Elizabeta's direction to see her snapping multiple pictures of Matthew seeking Gilbert's protection.

"Come on, Gilbert, hug him back or something!" she cried out, taking more pictures. Matthew loosened his grip on Gilbert to smile at Elizabeta.

"Good morning, Miss Elizabeta," Matthew whispered and spaced himself as far away from Gilbert as possible.

Elizabeta lowered her camera and pouted. "Oh, hello Mátyás... Gilbert."

Gilbert flinched at the venom in her voice, but cracked a smirk none-the-less. "Yes cupcake?"

"You're lucky Mattie was here to protect you. Next time, your head is mine." She walked past them, picked up her frying pan, and walked back to her house mumbling something in Hungarian. The only thing they both caught in the sentence was her husband's name, Roderich.

Gilbert whistled. "She so wants me."

"Yeah, dead in your grave," Matthew whispered, though he was sure Gilbert paid no attention to him.

"So, what's first on your list to do today?"

"Don't tell me you're going to take orders from someone for once in your life."

"Nah, I'm not doing this for Francis." Gilbert mumbled something under his breath, and even though Matthew strained his ears to pick up what he said, he had no luck. A low rumble erupted to their east, and dark clouds accumulated over the once blue sky. The gentle breeze picked up to a swift wind and pushed Gilbert's leather jacket into a soft rocking motion.

Matthew looked up towards the bleak clouds and wrinkled his nose. "Looks like it's about to rain. We should start walking over to my house before we get soaked."

"I don't mind-"

"I do," Matthew started walking towards his house, leaving Gilbert where he stood. Gilbert turned his attention back to the younger blonde and called out Matthew's name, running in order to catch up with him. A louder crash erupted in the skies as the world was lit up for a few seconds. Matthew flinched and increased his pace towards his house. Gilbert felt a raindrop splash onto his nose, and in a matter of seconds, it began to rain cats and dogs.

Gilbert looked over at the blonde, his attention focusing on the fear growing behind Matthew's violet eyes. "Hey, Matt, it's just rain. Don't worry about-"

_CRACK!_

Gilbert looked over to his side to notice Matthew was no longer standing next to him. He looked around, shouting out Matthew's name as rain began to pound on the ground and drown out his voice. His little chick took shelter in his leather jacket pocket, quivering in fear. Gilbert turned around in a full circle until he realized Matthew was kneeling on the ground covering his ears.

"Matt! We got to get back to your house! Come on!" Gilbert shouted over the rainstorm, but as soon as Matthew would run forward, the thunder would freeze him in place. "Oh für die Liebe des alten Fritz!" Prussia picked up Matthew into his arms and dashed toward Francis' house. He couldn't tell if Matthew was either in shock because Gilbert was carrying him or if it was because of the thunder, but his expression gave Gilbert a good reason to hurry towards the house. Once they reached the front door, Gilbert kicked the door open with his left foot, dashed inside, dropped Matthew on the couch, and battled the wind to shut the door. Gilbird jumped out of his pocket and tried to help, pecking at the door frame. Eventually, Gilbert won, the door slamming shut. His ears rang from the sudden exposure to silence, and all he could hear was the pounding of his heart.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked over at Matthew, who was still shaking on the couch. "You okay?"

"I-I think s-so," he stammered, using his elbows to prop himself into a sitting position. His hands shuddered as he gripped the edge of the sofa cushions. Gilbird hopped over to the couch, nestling up against his shoe to try and comfort the frazzled boy. Matthew tried to wipe the rain water off his glasses with his waterlogged shirt, but gave up when he realized it was impossible.

"Here," Gilbert said taking his glasses and wiping them on a nearby curtain. Matthew looked as if he was going to protest but was silenced when Gilbert shoved the glasses back onto his face. "Better?"

Matthew nodded his head and mumbled "merci" while adjusting his glasses into a comfortable position. Gilbert stared at him and sat down on a nearby rocking chair.

"So what in gott's name was that all about?" he questioned, leaning back into the chair. Matthew lowered his head and wrung out his sopping wet hair onto his shirt. Gilbert waited a few minutes for Matthew to respond, but he never did. He sighed and began rocking on the chair, his patience running thin. Normally, he would leave to go home, thundering or not, but something told him to stick around for Matthew's sake. Another loud crash shook the house, and Matthew clutched onto a nearby pillow. Gilbert groaned and sat next to the frazzled boy. "Don't worry, the awesome me will protect you from the storm."

Matthew looked up at him cutely with sparkling indigo eyes. "Thank you, Gilbert." He smiled and buried his chin into the feather pillow. '_I wonder what's gotten into Gilbert. He's unusually nice, but I kind of like it. Maybe he does care about others more than he lets on. Suddenly… the rain doesn't seem as loud anymore…_'

~o~o~

Alfred attempted to swallow the growing lump in his throat. He search any sign of amusement in Arthur's eyes, but they were stone serious. '_This can't be happening! Arthur's my guardian, my teacher, and though I'd never admit it to his face, one of my closest friends. He can't be turning on me like this for that broad!_'

Alfred spoke, his voice faltering a few times, "Arthur, come on. You're scaring Angelique."

"You're one to talk, Mr. Hero," Angelique hissed under her breath, but Alfred didn't pay any heed.

Arthur sighed, his smile dipping down into a grimace. "Well, if you two would've shut your bloody mouths, maybe I wouldn't be in this mess. After all the lies and alliances I've formed, I never thought I'd hold a sword to your throat! You're lucky she let me _kill_ you both, or you two would be dead already. Honestly, can't you keep out of trouble for more than five seconds, Alfred? You'll get yourself murdered one of these days."

"Well I-" Alfred blinked twice. "Wait… what?"

"Did you seriously think I'd kill you?" Arthur dropped the sword at his feet. He waited for a reply, but Alfred's expression said it all. "You really are an idiot."

"But all that talk about-"

"That was nothing more than saving my skin," Arthur cleared his throat. "Something you almost jeopardized. Honestly, I've never met someone so irresponsible! And to make matters worse, not only did you jeopardize your life, but Matthew's as well!"

"Hey! I'm totally re-… wait, what does Matthew have to do with this."

"Everything." Arthur replied, but realized Alfred was totally clueless. "Don't tell me you didn't connect the dots yet!"

"He didn't," Angelique stated, and Arthur face-palmed.

"Of all the dimwitted gits I've ever ran into, I think you're first on the 'highest level of idiocy' list."

"How was I supposed to know if no one ever told me?" Alfred defended himself. "I mean, it's not like he ever gave any hints-"Alfred paused and thought about everything that happened in the past few days. "Matthew, that day we met… when I got hurt, he mysteriously got a cut on his cheek. And I was okay. He did everything I said, and he looks just like me. Arthur, Matthew's my twin, isn't he?"

Angelique snorted. "You just figured that out now?"

Alfred sent a dirty look in her direction. "But I don't get it! I thought… why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you to pay more attention during my lectures." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess since I have your attention, would you like to hear your family's story now?"

"Well, I'm listening."

"Right, it all began when your father began to take walks around the town…"

~o~o~

Slowly flickering with each breath, the feather sticking up from the pillow case flew from its captive position and landed on a blond head. A boy, not even in his early teens, tossed in his slumbering position, unaware of what was about to happen. Another boy with slightly darker blond hair crept from the edge of the bed, humming an eerie tune. His violet eyes locked onto the other's peaceful expression, knowing it wouldn't last much longer. His smile widened, and he lifted his hand up to reveal a wooden spoon grasped between his fingers. He lifted up his other, and with one swift movement-

CLANG!

The younger blond yelled out in surprise and rolled off his bed, landing with a solid thud. The older burst out laughing, tears welling up in his indigo eyes. The younger blond looked up at his awakener and scowled, emerald eyes narrowing.

"Joseph! Bloody hell, you're going to be the death of me!" he yelled in frustration, combing a finger though his short, sandy locks.

Joseph wiped a tear away from his eyes and panted, "You-you should've seen your face! It was freakin' priceless!"

"Yeah, just like it was yesterday," the younger grabbed his mattress for support and wobbled into a standing position. "Honestly, when are you going to outgrow these childish games?"

"Aww, come on, Iggy! I was just teasing."

He sighed at his overused nickname. "It's Arthur, thank you very much. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't call me that insufferable nickname. Just because Mistress Natalia calls me it doesn't mean you should."

"You know you're only 12, right? So why do you speak as if you're 31?"

"Because," he looked as if he were going to continue, but simply straightened the sheet on his bed and cracked his stiff back.

"Oh, by the way, I brought you some breakfast!" Joseph held up a silver tray with eggs, bacon, ham, toast, sausage, and a cup of earl grey tea. Arthur looked down at the tray and stared bluntly into Joseph's eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just need you to cover for me tonight."

Arthur groaned. "Again?"

"It'll only be for a few hours. I'll be back on time this time."

"No. This is the second time this week I've covered for you, and it's only Tuesday!"

"This is the last time, I promise."

"That's what you said yesterday."

"Please. You know Natalia better than anyone and the only person who can hold her off 'til I get back."

"Just because I'm an ambassador from Alba Ruthenia doesn't mean I know everything about Natalia. And you know I can't keep her occupied forever! Besides, you can't go. The announcement's tonight and she'll be pissed if-"

"Come on, Arthur!" He pouted and put on an innocent expression. "It'll only be for an hour or two. I promised Kateri I'd come visit her tonight!"

"Oh, I should've known it was about that bloody wench again." Arthur was about to continue when he felt a sharp slap against his cheek.

"Don't you **DARE** ever refer to her or another woman like that again!" Joseph snarled, his face drenched with anger.

Arthur did his best to avoid Joseph's gaze and muttered, "It won't happen again, sir."

Joseph let out an exasperated sigh and patted Arthur on the back. "You know, being a gentleman is more than just being nice to a woman's face. It takes hours of endless chivalry and pleasing your girl in every way possible. Besides, if they're happy, you won't be killed for making them unhappy. As someone once said: A content wife is a safe husband."

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle. "You are a complete mystery to me sometimes, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know… thanks for covering for me by the way!"

"Any time you-"Arthur realized the trick and felt Joseph's presence disintegrate. Before he knew it, he was standing alone in his room. "That bastard! Wait till I-"

"Joseph!" an angry voice called out. Arthur felt shivers run up his spine and he looked out the keyhole of his door.

He cursed under his breath and replied, "Joseph's not in here, Mistress Natalia."

There was a pause before she replied, "You're lying to me."

Arthur felt his blood run cold. Lifting a shaking finger up to the door handle, he grabbed a key off of his dresser and as silently as he could, latched the lock on the door. "Please, why would I-"

The door bulged as Natalia rammed her shoulder into the door. Arthur jumped back in surprise, a squeak escaping his throat. Again, she slammed into the door, the hinges groaning in protest. Another bang shoved her knife into the wood of the door, splintering it around the lock. She repeated these actions until the door was completely chipped away at, the plank of wood crashing open. She eyed the room, her icy eyes landing on Arthur's quivering frame.

"Where is he?"

"I-I told you. He's not here at the moment."

"I know he was here. He left his jacket on your bed."

Arthur looked over to reveal her suspicions correct. Joseph had left his favorite jacket behind, and everyone knew he wore it everywhere he went. "It must've been left there from last ni-"His eyes turned back only to look directly into Natalia's blue orbs. For a moment, Arthur felt as if he were going to faint. If that woman's stare could kill, he'd be half way dead by now.

"You wouldn't dare lie to me, would you _Iggy_?"

"No. Why would I feel the need to."

Natalia looked down to where her fingers played with a knife. "That's good. Because lying to me is a crime punishable by death." Her eyes met his again, her blade skimming the tips of her fingers to test their acute point. "Well, if you're sure…" Natalia backed away from Arthur, her knife slipping back under her dress. "Iggy, if you hear from Joey, tell him he better be in the ballroom by nine tonight, or he'll never live to see midnight, and neither will you."

"O-of c-c-course." Without another word, Natalia turned on her heels and disappeared down the hallway, her heels echoing down the corridors. Arthur let out a sigh of relief and slid down the side of his bed, the blanket falling onto his unruly hair. He pulled his knees into his chest and cradled his forehead in his palms. "Joseph, you better come back soon. I don't know how long I can hold her off tonight."

_~o~o~_

"Where is he?" Arthur paced back and forth in front of the entrance to the ballroom. The old grandfather clock nearby ticked away feverishly, each passing second tearing away at Arthur's patience. It was only thirty minutes until nine, and Arthur knew that once the clock struck the hour, Natalia would come looking for him, and this time he wasn't sure if he would survive. He played with the tie wrapped around his neck, the tight cloth giving his neck a rash. Sweat trickled down his knitted brow and caked itself to his scorching skin. Flashing another gaze to the clock to discover only a minute slinked by, Arthur shoved his hands in his pockets and collapsed into a nearby chair.

"Arthur!" Joseph ran up to him, panting as if he ran a marathon.

"Joseph, you gave me such a fright! Where have you been?" He began to straighten out Joseph's formal clothing. Underneath the suit, Arthur could feel Joseph's body trembling.

"Arthur, I screwed up!"

He looked up at Joseph's violet eyes. "What do you mean?"

"You remember how I've been seeing Kateri for the past few months? Well, I… we kind of… it sort of… and she…"

"For god's sake man, spit it out."

"Kateri's pregnant."

Arthur felt his stomach do a back flip. "C-come again. I don't think-"

"You heard me! I got Kateri pregnant. God, I don't know what to do. What if someone finds out? What if Natalia finds out? Shit, if my father finds out, shit's gonna hit the fan! Kateri could be put to death, and god knows what Natalia will do to me! What if she kills me herself so my father doesn't have to-"

"Get a hold of yourself!" Arthur yanked Joseph's tie so his eyes were gazing straight into Joseph's mauve eyes. "Your father is **not** going to find out. We're going to hide this, and pretend it never happened. No one besides you and I know you've been seeing her. So, you never left, and you never met Kateri to begin with. Understand?" Joseph averted his attention to a nearby rug. "Joseph, look at me! Everything is going to be okay. Nothing bad will happen, I promise."

Joseph looked into Arthur's eyes and smiled, hugging Arthur around the shoulders. "Thanks, Arthur. You really are one of my truest friends."

Arthur chuckled. "Might as well be. As long as I'm an ambassador to your country, you're kind of stuck with me." The two of them walked into the ballroom together, meeting up with an either annoyed or amused Natalia.

That night, Joseph's engagement to Natalia was announced, and within the next month they were married. Arthur continued his watchful eye on the couple, making sure Joseph wouldn't step out for too long to see Kateri and his two children. Unfortunately, the curse set upon his family had given Kateri twin boys. Joseph treated them as if they were no different from any normal child, and their first year of life went by quickly.

However, Natalia had a surprise of her own. She announced not soon after Kateri's twins were born that she was pregnant as well. However, it didn't go so well for her. Since Joseph had already conceived the two "demon twins" and unable to generate more children, Natalia had several miscarriages. Ashamed by her failure to produce a child with Joseph, Natalia grew distant from her husband and refused to speak to him. However, there was another problem with their situation. Joseph's father knew that twins needed to be created due to the curse. And what was worse was he was coming to check up on his "grandchildren's" status.

Joseph paced around his room, his hands held behind his back and his mind deep in thought. Arthur watched him dodder back and forth, swearing that a hole was beginning to form in the carpet.

"Arthur, what am I going to do? If my father finds out that Natalia and I don't have a child by now, he's going to kill me for sure!"

"I think the answer's pretty obvious. You're thinking too deeply."

"Yeah. The answer is nothing good can come from my father visiting. We were supposed to have twins within the first year of our marriage, and so far we have nothing but three miscarriages and Natalia's hurt pride."

"But you do have children don't forget."

"Yeah, but not from Natalia. Aren't you missing the point?"

"No, I'm thinking logically. You already have your twins. However, you don't need to say that Natalia didn't produce them."

Joseph turned to look at Arthur. "What do you mean?"

"I'm suggesting that you bring one of the twins here and pose him as your child."

"Okay, that solves one problem. But Natalia will surly know we're lying. What if she squeals?"

"She won't. She's just as nervous as you are. She knows that if she doesn't produce a child for the kingdom, your father will have her sent away and you will be placed with another girl. It's a harsh cycle, but it's a ritual your country has stood by for thousands of years."

"… So, you're saying we should bring one of the twins up to the castle and raise him as our son… meaning Natalia's and mine… but forget about the second?"

"Kateri needs something to hold onto. If you take both twins from her, I'm sure you'll destroy her. At least she'll have one she can call her own when all is said and done."

"Good point. But still, I don't know if this will work. How am I going to break it to Kateri?"

"You tell her the truth. She'll understand; I know she will."

Joseph looked over at Arthur and sighed, knowing this may be the only way to save everyone a huge headache. "All right. I'll do it, but don't expect me to be happy about it."

"I never said you had to."

"This better work, Arthur. I'm counting on you."

~o~o~

"So, let me get this straight. My father knocked up my real mother, not the old bitch, and decided to save his skin by saying I was his kid, but left Matthew with my mom?" Alfred paraphrased while scratching his head.

"That's pretty much it," Arthur replied and took in a deep breath. "Now you know the truth."

"But he was going to go back to my mom! I read it in a letter he was going to send to her."

"What letter?"

"The one in the secret room behind a wall. It's up in his old bedroom."

"You found your father's private study?"

"Private study? I'd say it looked more like a prison… oh wait. Studying is prison."

"Please tell me you sealed the entrance back up."

"Of course I-"Alfred paused and cursed under his breath.

Arthur brought up his hand and smacked Alfred on the side of the head. "You bloody moron! If your mother finds out about that room, Matthew could be in serious trouble!"

Alfred turned to run back up the stairs. "I'm coming, Mat-"

Arthur grabbed the back of his shirt collar, nearly choking him in the process. "Are you completely daft? Your mother just ordered me to kill you. You can't go parading around like you're the queen of Sheba in front of her."

"I… good point."

"Now, I suggest we devise a plan to get you two out of the castle without being seen." As he was talking, thunder rumbled in the distance. Angelique looked over toward the window to notice the pounding rain on the glass.

"No, I have to get home!" she cried and started to run away. Alfred grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him so she couldn't escape.

"Whoa, weren't you just listening to a thing Iggy-"

"Arthur!"

"-Arthur said? You're supposed to be six feet under."

"But I have to get back to Mathieu! He's deathly afraid of thunder."

"He'll be okay for now. You can't help him if you're dead, can you?"

Angelique stopped flailing around. "I guess not."

Arthur stepped up in front of them and motioned for the two of them to follow. Alfred let go of Angelique and brought up the tail end of the trio, dodging spider webs that seemed to jump out and grab him. Arthur stopped at the door leading to the back corridor of the castle. Through the metal bars, he could hear two soldiers walking in step down the path, their metal boots clanking on the stone floor.

"And it was completely out in the open?"

"Yeah. It was like Joseph himself wanted us to find it or something."

"The queen will be pleased to hear what we found out. This could be the break we were all waiting for."

"Found what, gentlemen?" Natalia's voice called out. Angelique backed up into Alfred, who stood sturdy and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Your majesty!" both guards cried out and stood rigid.

The first released his stance and answered, "We may have just solved your troubles, your highness."

"Yes, with this clue, you will finally find who you've been looking for all along."

"Well, out with it. I can't wait to hear what you have to report."

"You'll never believe it, but the answer was lying right under your nose the whole time. It was hidden in a secret room by your bedside. All of Joseph's documents were found, along with a note explaining his plan to his wife, Kateri Williams."

"You mean, you've found him?"

"I believe so, your majesty. Our searching for 'the servant' ends here."

Arthur formed a fist and scratched his knuckles on the sandstone. "Shit… good going Alfred."

**To Be Continued…

* * *

**

First off, I'm sorry if Alfred and Prussia suck! Kami's grounded, and she normally writes out those parts. So this was my first try at those hyperactive characters. Please excuse the crappy way they were written. *bows*

Five points to anyone who can guess why Matt has a head injury. I'll give you a hint… the answer lies in chapter three. ;) [**Kami**: Oh, just give them the answer why don't ya! ]

Also, Arthur is not the youngest Ambassador ever. He's an apprentice, so it's not his job yet. I just wanted to clear that up. *coughkamicough* Whoa, excuse that nasty cold. D: Love you Kami. w

And as always, here's our love section to our reviewers! You guys seriously mean the world to us! :'D

**MarshmallowTree**, **Demoness** **Drakon**, **The-FCI-Prez**, **serene528moon**, **Hinata Uzumaki-sama**, **Kiesha**, and **nupinoop296**

And another round of applause for our beta, **darandomninja**! 8D

Before I go, I hope you all have a happy Easter. And for those of you who don't… I hope you enjoy your Sunday anyways! :D


	7. 6: The Relations and the Attack

_**Translations:**_

_Verpiss Dich, Arschkriecher – German – Piss off, ass-kisser_

_Aus die Maus – German – That's enough_

_Merde – French – Shit :D_

_Ceci est mauvais – French – This is bad_

_Verdammich – German – Damn it [Wow, there's a lot of foreign cussing in this chapter XD]_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

The Pretender – Gilbert's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=TwMMwDyAU4M

Hurt – Matthew's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=IHagPodxu5g

What I've Done – Ludwig's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=Dj_d8DlZ-Jo

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**Chapter 6 – The Relations and the Attack**

'_What... what time is it?_' Matthew blinked his eyes to adjust them to the light. Soft chirps replaced the previous thunder, and the leftover rain on the windowsill. Matthew pushed himself into a sitting position. A blanket covering his torso fell off his shoulders. '_When did that get there? Did I just wake up this morning? Was that all a dream?'_ He looked over towards the town clock, which proved his answer. '_No, I woke up this morning. I was outside, then Søren... come to think of it, I saw Mathias, Gilbert, and Elizabeta too. Then there was a thunderstorm and... wait. Where did Gilbert go?'_

Matthew looked across the couch to see Gilbird lying on the table. The small mound of yellow fuzz rose and fell as the chick slept inside a coaster, peeping softly. Matthew smiled; the cuteness it radiated could make your sweet tooth fall out.

Then his eyes drifted over to the rocking chair in the corner. Gilbert had fallen asleep, his feet still subconsciously rocking him back and forth.

'_Did Gilbert stay that whole time with me during the thunderstorm? Why would he stay here that long?' _Matthew's stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn't eaten all day. '_Hmm, I still didn't get to make those pancakes I wanted. It's never too late for breakfast I guess._'

Matthew climbed off the couch and tip-toed into the kitchen. Pulling out some flour, sugar, milk, and butter, he placed a bowl out on the counter and began to make the pancakes he wanted since this morning. Within a few minutes, the breakfast pastry's scent filled the air. Kumajiro trotted into the kitchen, sitting next to his food bowl and scratching his muzzle.

"Hello there, Kimanari," Matthew smiled.

The bear looked over at him for a few seconds and then went back to scratching his nose. "Who?"

"Mathieu," he sighed. '_Really, is it that hard to remember my name?_' "I guess you're hungry, eh? Maybe I can find something in the pantry for you."

Kumajiro looked up from his scratching position to gaze up at Matthew walking in the kitchen. "Alfred?"

"No, Mathieu," he repeated again. '_Alfred... I wonder how he's doing. Last I knew, he said he was going to stop by today, but he never did._'

Kumajiro cuddled into a ball on the floor, his back pushing his food dish slightly. Matthew turned his attention back to the pancake batter and scooped up a bit of the batter onto his finger to taste it.

"Needs more sugar," he commented to himself. Matthew looked in the bowl of sugar next to him. To his dismay, he used up all the sugar in his last addition to the batter. Matthew sighed and pranced over to the cupboard with a full bag of sugar inside.

Standing on his tip-toes, Matthew stretched his fingers up to touch the edge of the bag with his fingertips. They pressed a bit too hard on the side of the bag, and it toppled over, spilling sugar all over the inside of the cabinet.

"No!" Matthew yelled and cursed under his breath. '_Great! Another huge mess to clean up._'

"Need some help?" a kind voice asked. Matthew jumped and spun around to see a boy in a royal soldier's uniform standing behind him. He let out a shriek and backed up into the cabinet, knocking shelves over and spilling its contents all over himself and the floor. The young soldier flailed his hands around to catch some of the stuff falling from their resting spots. "Oh, no, no, no, no! Please don't panic! I won't hurt you!"

"Who are you? Why are you in my house?" Matthew yelped and sneezed as flour covered his face.

"Ve~, don't worry. I'm a friend," the soldier replied and held out his hand to help Matthew up. Matthew looked from the soldier's hand to his warm smile and back again. He raised a cautious hand to meet the soldier's and was lifted to his feet. Matthew looked over to where Kumajiro laid, snoring softly. '_Some guard bear you are!_'

"Uh, thanks." Matthew forced a smile to show some sort of appreciation.

"No problem. I'm sorry I scared you," the young soldier apologized, stroking the back of his hair. "I'm Feliciano Vargas."

"Nice to meet you. But why are you-"

"Ve, that's a cute dog!" Feliciano's attention was on the white ball of fuzz curled up on the floor.

"Oh, he's not-"

"Do you need help cleaning that up?" Feliciano pointed to the cupboard that now looked like a cluttered closet.

Matthew sighed, sick of being interrupted. "Sure." Together, they began to stack the shelves up one by one and put the items that weren't broken back in place. Matthew glanced over at Feliciano every few moments to make sure that he had no foul intentions. The two cleaned the mess up in record time. Feliciano stood back and brushed his hands together to get any excess flower off his fingers. Matthew looked over at the kitchen door and scratched the side of his head. '_Funny Gilbert didn't wake up with all the noise. I never expected him the type to be a heavy sleeper._'

"-ur sister today."

Matthew brought his attention back to Feliciano. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Feliciano smiled and repeated, "I saw your sister today. What was her name again? Angie… Angle… Ag-"

Matthew sighed. "Angelique?"

"Yeah, I think that's it. Anyway, I was with Alfred this afternoon and your sister came looking for him. She said she wanted to talk to him about you or something."

"Me? Why would Alfred-"

"But when they were trying to find Arthur, the queen caught them and now they're in a lot of trouble!"

"What kind of trouble? What happened?"

"Ve, it was something about knowing too much about 'the servant' or something."

"The servant? I've heard the guards mention that before. What is it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I just kind of follow orders." Feliciano smiled sweetly and looked over at the pancake mix. "Ve, are you making breakfast this late?"

"Um, I didn't have any breakfast yet."

"You should have pasta instead!"

"Pasta?"

"Yeah! Can I make some for you? Oh, pretty please? It's really good! You'll love it."

"I-I guess you-" Before Matthew could finish his sentence, the young Italian already began his work . Matthew leaned against the table and sighed. He walked back into the living room to check and make sure Gilbert was still okay, and then returned to check on the stranger now making pasta in his house. '_What a weird day! First Søren comes in and asks me to make his neighbor to stop shearing his bushes into strange animals. Then Gilbert decides he's my guardian for the day. And now there's a complete stranger –a palace guard no less- making pasta in my kitchen. What's next, the sky turning to fire?_'

A series of knocks sounded from the front door. Matthew held his breath to help him listen, but dismissed the sounds as his imagination. He walked over to watch Feliciano continue to make his pasta, until there was another series of knocks at the door. Matthew walked out of the kitchen, Kumajiro watching him as he walked by, and into the living room. 'Now who's knocking at my door?'

As Matthew reached for the door knob, there was a loud thump, and the door groaned under the weight of its attacker. Matthew jumped back, the wood cracking as the door was rammed into again. There was a soft groan from behind Matthew as Gilbert stretched his arms.

"What the hell are you doing over there, Mattie?" He asked, obviously still groggy.

"There's… there's a…" Matthew stammered, looking around the room as if he lost something. "The door… there's someone-"

With a deafening crack, the door was knocked away from its hinges, splinters of wood soaring in different directions. Gilbert leaped off his chair and focused his crimson eyes on the entrance way.

"Matthew Williams," a soldier ordered, "I have strict orders to escort you to-"

"West?" Gilbert asked, walking up to the soldier. "What are you doing? You broke Mattie's door!"

"Gilbert?" The man blinked in confusion. "I could ask you the same thing." Matthew looked from one man to the next.

"West?" he questioned.

Gilbert smiled. "Yeah. It's a nickname for We-"

"Don't you dare," the man hissed, rubbing his temple. "Now, what are _you_ doing here?"

Gilbert slung an arm around Matthew's shoulders. "I came to visit a friend of mine. Got a problem with that?"

Matthew's violet eyes narrowed. "You… you're the captain of the royal guards, Ludwig. You tried to take Angelique away from me."

Ludwig's cobalt irises focused down on Matthew. "Yes, I am. And now I-"

"Wait, you're the one who's been causing all the trouble in town?" Gilbert questioned. "You're looking for that servant kid or whatever it is?"

Ludwig restrained himself from slapping either his face or his brother. "Yes. What is this, twenty questions?"

"Ludwig?" a cheerful voice called from the kitchen. "Ve, Captiano, what are you doing here?"

Gilbert's head spun around to look at the flour-covered Italian. "Feli, you're here too? What is this, a bad parody of Full House or something? Anyone else here I should know about?" Gilbird jumped up and down on the table and let out a shrill "peep". Gilbert smiled and put the chick onto his shoulder. "I already knew you were here, little buddy."

"Look, I don't have time for this," Ludwig massaged his temples. "Matthew, come with me."

Matthew's body stiffened. "Why? Does this have to do with my sister or something? Why won't you leave us alone already? And where is Angelique? Feliciano said you did something to her."

Ludwig looked over at Feliciano, who squeaked 'hi' and waved, and sighed heavily. "I didn't do anything personally. I was just following orders."

"It still doesn't make it right," Matthew hissed. "You weren't forced to do it. Everyone has a choice."

"Look, if I don't take you out of this house within the next thirty seconds, a group of soldiers are going to storm into the house. I thought I'd move ahead of them and escort you out so you wouldn't get hurt. Make this easier and just come with me."

"He's not going anywhere he doesn't want to," Gilbert growled. "What the fuck is wrong with you, West? Leave the poor kid alone."

Ludwig was losing his patience. "You're not helping. I'm not going to hurt him."

"I don't care! He doesn't need anyone else telling him what to do."

"Gilbert, I really think-"

"You should be going? Great! Get the hell out of here. We'll talk about this later."

"Listen for just a-"

"Verpiss Dich, Arschkriecher."

"Aus die Maus!" Ludwig growled, his fingernails digging into his palms. Matthew cringed, but Gilbert wasn't fazed by the venom in Ludwig's voice. The sound of a spoon being dropped echoed from the kitchen. "Dammit, Gilbert, you didn't care about him before. What's with the sudden change of heart? I thought you were too awesome."

Gilbert's eye twitched. "I am! I'm just doing Francis a favor!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Right."

"You better fuckin keep your-"

Suddenly, soldiers began to storm into the house. Feliciano let out a yelp and exited out the back doorway which he came in. Ludwig looked over his shoulder and let out a heavy sigh as the guards circled around Gilbert and Matthew.

"Now we have to do it the hard way." Ludwig scratched the back of his head.

Gilbert looked around the room, growling under his breath. He smiled and hissed, "You think the awesome me can't take on all of you pussies by myself?"

Ludwig shook his head back and forth and clicked his tongue. "Brüder, this doesn't have to be difficult. Please, just let us take him. I don't want you to get hurt."

Gilbert clenched his teeth. "Like hell I'd-" He was interrupted by Matthew grabbing onto his arm.

"Gilbert, I don't want you to get hurt because of me," Matthew whimpered and smiled. "I'll be okay." Gilbert gazed down into teary, lilac eyes. Matthew's quivering hand released itself from Gilbert's arm. He bit his lip and stepped forward toward Ludwig. Taking in a deep breath, he said, "I'll go. But I want to see Angelique at least one more time."

Ludwig dropped his gaze down to the floor. "I'm… I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

Matthew blinked and questioned, "What do you mean? Why not?" Ludwig still refused to make eye-contact. He clenched and unclenched his palms, biding his time and hoping that the issue would disintegrate into thin air. However, when he looked back at the blond, Matthew's eyes were anxious, unsure of whether they wanted to know the reason or not. Matthew shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Please, tell me what happened to Angelique."

Ludwig drew a long breath and released it. He dropped his head slightly and gazed into Matthew's irises. "I'm sorry, but your sister was put to death."

Matthew's peachy tone withered to pallid. He covered his mouth with a hand, shaking his head in disbelief. "N-no. Why? How could this happen?"

"I'm sorry," Ludwig closed his eyes, regretting telling him the tragic news.

Matthew slumped to his knees; the taste of salt dripped into the crevices of his mouth. His vision blurred out; the surrounding noise dissolved. He could feel something grip his shoulders, but he couldn't tell if his shoulders were shaking because of another entity or his own distress. '_Angelique… my sister… it's not true! It can't be true! It's all a lie, I know it is! It has to be. She… she can't be gone. She promised me that we would go pick apples this afternoon. She told me she'd be here in the morning to change my bandages. We were going to celebrate her birthday in a few days. I even had a gift picked out for her. She can't be gone. I didn't get to say good bye._'

What happened next was a bit of a blur. Matthew was shoved up to his feet and pushed out the door, a fuzzy being jumping into his hands, and he was told to run. He didn't remember starting to dash out into the streets. As he ran, his feet collided with some blunt object on the ground, and he crashed down to the wet earth, his hands scraping against the stone. Rain water from the afternoon storm drenched his clothing and hair. Matthew turned his head to the side to take in air and stayed still for several moments. The world seemed to freeze, and the only sound to comfort him was his own breath. He closed his eyes, tears tumbling down his nose and cheeks.

"Peep!" A soft pinch bit his cheek. Matthew opened his eyes after the second little peck on his nose. Gilbird jumped around his head, flapping its wings. It pulled at a strand of Matthew's hair, urging him to keep moving. Matthew pushed himself into a sitting position; the bird chirped triumphantly and leaped into his hair. He gripped the stick in his hands, the rain water discoloring the wood. He flashed a look back towards his home, where shouts and grunts echoed through the streets. '_Mother, what do I do? Gilbert is back there, and he is alone fighting all those soldiers. Should I help him? I don't even know if I'd be any help._' A gentle breeze nudged him from behind, scattering a few abandoned flower petals in front of him. '_Do… are you saying I should run?_' The wind picked up, his hair tickling his cheeks. Matthew stood to his feet and began running down the road again, his heart pounding in his chest. The streets were still deserted due to the storm, except for the random puddles littering the road. Cleansed air filled his nostrils and cooled his aching lungs. His feet clopped down the road, echoing off the surrounding buildings. They skidded to a halt and changed direction, carrying Matthew down a maze of buildings.

Matthew stopped behind a building creating the alleyway. The sound of blood rushed to his ears and overpowered his hearing. He leaned against a nearby wall, his hand clutched over his chest. Taking in painful breaths, he slid down into a seated position and tried to slow his pounding heart. Gilbird jumped off his head and onto the stone beneath them, jumping around like a Mexican bean.

'_How could I leave him alone like that? There's too many of them. He'll never be able to fight them all alone._' Matthew cursed under his breath. Gilbird chirped, hopping up into Matthew's lap and trying to decide whether to stay with Matthew or find Gilbert. Matthew looked down and smiled, lifting the hatchling up into the air with his free palm.

"I bet you're worried sick, huh little guy?" Matthew asked. Gilbird cocked its head to the right trying to decipher Matthew's words. "Well, maybe if we're lucky Kimamichi will help him out." Matthew stopped to think for a few minutes, his face twisting in disgust. "Who am I kidding? There's no way Gilbert can fight against them unarmed. He's going to die, and it'll be my fault! Why did I drag him into this? Why do I have to be so weak? I-" Matthew let out a stream of coughs, Gilbird falling from his palm and crashing onto Matthew's lap. The little bird ruffled its feathers and thought about pecking Matthew, until it noticed the agony etched on his face.

Gilbird climbed up Matthew's sleeve and attempted to comfort him. Matthew coughed for about twenty seconds straight until his body seemed to relax. He rested his head against the cold stone wall, staring up at the sky. Gilbird nestled into the crook of his neck and chirped, reminding Matthew he wasn't alone. Matthew smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

'_I can't run forever. They've probably killed Gilbert and Kalijiru by now and are looking for me. Good thing Papa wasn't home. I'd hate to lose him too… I don't even get what Angelique did. She'd never cause any trouble with the guards. This whole mess didn't begin until those soldiers showed up at our door calling her 'the servant'. What is 'the servant' and why did they call her it? I think everyone knows except me! Why won't anyone tell me? I have the right to know. That stupid thing is the reason Angelique is dead.'_ Matthew paused as his thoughts were interrupted. '_Footsteps? Merde, did they find me?'_ Matthew used all his strength to try and pull himself into a weak standing position but failed. '_Not good! It hurts too much to move. Ceci est mauvais!'_

Gilbird looked up at Matthew, its black irises taking in his expression. The little bird ruffled up its feathers, realizing a bird's gotta do what a bird's gotta do. Gilbird leaped off of Matthew and darted towards the footsteps as ferociously as it could. The bird leaped up with all its strength to meet cold metal. Gilbird flew backward towards the ground in a pile of unconscious fuzz.

Matthew jumped at the blunt noise. "Gilbird?" He picked up the stick he dropped in front of him, squeezing the bark so hard his fingers turned white. He used the stick to help him into a standing position and leaped out from his hiding place to strike Gilbird's attacker.

"Whoa, what the?" A feminine voice called out, blocking the blow with a silver frying pan. Matthew jumped upon hearing the loud clang he helped create and opened his eyes.

"Miss Elizabeta!" He cried out in surprise. His knees buckled underneath him and he used his stick to help him retain a standing position.

Elizabeta ran to his side and gasped, "Matthew, what happened?"

It took Matthew a few seconds to gather his thoughts into clear details. "Back home, I fell asleep during that thunderstorm. Gilbert stayed with me until-"

Elizabeta suppressed a squeal inside her mouth, interrupting Matthew's thoughts. She smiled and took in a deep breath. "Go on."

"… After I woke up, I went to make some pancakes, when a weird royal soldier named Feliciano appeared in my kitchen. He started making me… pasta."

"Sounds like Feli," Hungary mused, shaking her head.

"Anyway, Captain Ludwig showed up and demanded I come with him. Gilbert defended me, and said he wouldn't let Ludwig take me. Then these guards flooded my house and Gilbert wanted to fight them. Of course I couldn't see anyone hurt over me, and I agreed to go, but they had to take me to see Angel…" Matthew's voice trailed off. He turned his attention to the ground, Elizabeta's jade eyes focusing on him.

"Matthew? Are you okay?"

Matthew blinked to hold back his tears. He sighed and swallowed hard. "I asked Ludwig if I could see Angelique before I left, and he told me she… she was dead." A silent sob escaped his mouth and tears began rolling down his cheeks.

"Angelique is dead?" Elizabeta questioned in shock. She pulled Matthew closer to her, her sisterly instincts kicking in. "Matthew, I'm so sorry. What happened to her?"

"I… I don't know. I never got the chance to ask Ludwig. Gilbert pushed me out of the house before I could say anything about it."

"Well, maybe we should go back and ask him ourselves," Elizabeta growled. "I can't believe he'd do this. When he took up the position of captain, he said he'd always fight for justice, even if it killed him. What turned him into such a coward?" Elizabeta pulled herself and Matthew into a standing position, Matthew using the stick to help support himself. Elizabeta scooped Gilbird into her hands.

Matthew turned around, his hair falling into his face. "I hope he's okay."

"I told that idiot to take better care of his turkey. Don't worry, I don't think it's dead."

Matthew smiled and shook his head weakly. "It's not Gilbird I'm worried about."

"Gilbert," Elizabeta whispered under her breath. "Do you know if he had a weapon with him?"

"I don't think so."

Elizabeta took off down the alleyway, squeezing her frying pan handle. First thing Ludwig was going to get when she found him was a concussion. The two of them traveled down the road towards Matthew's house, which was unnaturally quiet. As Elizabeta turned into the doorway, Ludwig came face to face with the enraged woman.

"Ludwig!" She hissed and was about to swing her frying pan when she noticed Gilbert's limp, bloody figure in his brother's arms. She looked up into Ludwig's eyes; he looked pretty worn out as well. "Ludwig, I swear if you hurt him, I'll-"

"He'll be okay," Ludwig replied. "I couldn't… I couldn't live with myself if he died. But still, two against sixteen isn't good odds, especially when they're all armed and trained in fighting."

"Wait, you mean you-"

"I'm probably going to lose my ranking for this," He sighed, "but it was worth it. Besides, what's a job compared to your brother's life? It's time I stopped being someone else's lapdog."

Elizabeta smiled. "You couldn't have realized this at a better time."

"What do you mean?"

"For the past month, the town has been gathering together to start an uprising against Natalia. We need all the help we can get."

Matthew gasped. "Wait, so you mean the town meetings were about-"

"Yes. It's time the real ruler of our country took his position as king."

Ludwig moaned under his breath. "There's only one problem with that."

Elizabeta's eye twitched. "What now?"

"The prince was sentenced to death along with Matthew's sister."

"WHAT?" Elizabeta screamed and threw her frying pan in anger, the metal connecting with the wall and emitting a vociferous clang. "Who killed him? I'll murder the bastard!"

"Elizabeta, calm down," Ludwig ordered, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

"Calm down? All this planning has been a complete waste! Who's going to take over the throne now? Who killed him? Tell me!"

"It was… Arthur."

Elizabeta's expression pulled a 180 and now was filled with glee. "Really? You sure?"

Ludwig blinked, thoroughly confused. "Yes. Why?"

"I knew he'd come through for us!" Elizabeta cheered. "Arthur is a double agent sent to spy on the queen by King Joseph himself. He didn't trust the relationship between Natalia and himself, so he asked Arthur to become an ambassador to watch her actions. He'd never hurt Alfred."

"Well that's new," Ludwig commented, blinking in confusion.

"We don't have any time to waste. If I know Arthur, he's probably helping Alfred get out of the castle as we speak. I'll gather the townspeople and tell them that our revolution starts today." Elizabeta picked up her frying pan and dashed off into the streets, leaving Ludwig and Matthew alone in front of the house.

There was a bit of an awkward pause before Ludwig asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Matthew replied, "Just trying to soak up all this information. It's happening so fast."

"Don't feel bad. I'm just as confused as you are. Who knew that the people were planning a revolution this-"

Matthew cried out in pain, holding his sides. Ludwig's heart leaped into his throat and he placed Gilbert gently on the ground. "Matthew! Matthew, what's wrong? What ha-"He looked down at Matthew's side to see his abdomen profusely bleeding.

Matthew coughed, vomit rising in his throat. "I feel like… I just got stabbed."

"Verdammich," Ludwig hissed and tried to stop the bleeding with his jacket. He looked around for someone to aid him, but the streets were deserted. "Hold on, Matthew. I'll find you some help." Matthew wobbled forward, his vision blanking out. Ludwig caught him before he was exposed to more pain, but the boy was already unconscious. He laid Matthew gently on the ground and felt his pulse. Matthew's heartbeat was still there, but disappearing quickly. Matthew took in a sharp breath and released it, the world falling silent.

Ludwig's eyes widened. "Matthew? Matthew! Hold on! No, don't give up yet. MATTHEW!"

**To be continued…**

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Oh boy, can we can hear the angry mob forming already! :D_

_Sorry this took so long. I can't say we didn't have enough free time (__MarshmallowTree __can vouch for Neko xD) but more like we didn't know how to word it. We know where we want the chapters to go, but getting there is half the battle._

_This is basically the second to last chapter before we enter Part II of the story. So we're sorry if it's a bit rushed._

_Okay, reviewer love section time! 8D_

_**serene528moon**__, __**MarshmallowTree**__, __**Hinata Uzumaki-sama**__, __**Kiesha**__, and __**Demoness Drakon**__!_

_And again, thanks to __**darandomninja**__ for betaing for us! Your opinion is always appreciated! :D_

_Well, until next time! ^-^ _


	8. 7: The Tears and the Sorrow

_We're back! =D Hope you like our ridiculously over-due chapter._

_**Translations:**_

_Je t'aime sœur – French – I love you, sister. _

_Je suis désolé – French – I'm so sorry._

_C'est l'heure de te lever – French – It's time to wake up._

_Everything else should be easy to translate yourself. =)_

_**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**_

_Tears of an Angel – Angelique's Theme - www. youtube .com/ watch? v= gg4zxY1vF1w_

_Sound the Bugle – Alfred and Matthew's Theme - www. youtube .com/ watch? v= wXtceBT80Ns_

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_

Alfred swallowed whatever was left in his dry throat and peered through the crack in the doorway. '_Did I really hear her right? She did say that it was Mattie's mom she located. Not Matthew himself, right? Right! _' His gaze shifted to Arthur, who looked more nervous than he did, and then down to Angelique. He couldn't quite read her expression but could tell by her shuddering shoulder that she wasn't happy either.

"Great," Arthur hissed and slapped his forehead. "Can't you think for at least once in your life, Alfred?"

"Hey!" He whipped his head around to face Arthur. "I was in a hurry, okay?"

"In a hurry to what? Dig your brother's grave?" Arthur rubbed his temples. He sighed and talked to the floor. "Why is it that you can only focus on one thing at a time? Maybe if you would sit down and think before acting, we wouldn't be in this mess. Why can't you be more like-"

"Alfred, wait!" Angelique's voice called out. Arthur looked up and saw Alfred storming out of the room. Angelique attempted to grab Alfred's arm, but he evaded her grasp easily. Arthur leaped out to help her stop Alfred, but failed.

Alfred clenched his fists and approached the two guards confronting his mother. The gleam in her eye told him that she saw her son, but she never uttered a sound. Alfred's attention focused on the back of the two soldier's heads. He drew a sword from his belt and stuck it in the guard's back to his left. The guard yelped in both pain and shock, the blade slicing through his back and out his chest. The other guard turned to view the attacker and drew his sword. Before Alfred could pull his blade out from the back of the other soldier, the second guard swiped his sword near Alfred's torso. Out of nowhere, Arthur jumped forward and blocked the attack. Alfred gratefully glanced at Arthur, who returned his stare with annoyed eyes. Alfred freed his sword from the guard he struck and watched him collapse to his knees.

Meanwhile Arthur began to fight off the other soldier. The two swords met with each attack, both obviously skilled in combat. Arthur blocked a strong sword swipe towards his head and fell backward onto the floor. He continued to hold off the soldier and looked up at Alfred. He growled through clenched teeth, "For god's sake, don't just stand there!" He kicked the soldier off of himself, sat up, and continued, "Get Angelique out of here and find your brother!" Arthur turned his sword to meet another attack from the soldier.

Alfred stared blankly, "But, you-"

"GO ALREADY!" Arthur yelled, another clang of their swords crying out. Alfred hesitated for a moment and ran to Angelique. He grabbed her wrist, and she nodded in a silent agreement to follow him. Though soon, her eyes lit up in terror, and she cried out, "Alfred, behind-"

Alfred let out a cry of pain as he felt a blade sink into his abdomen. The cold skin of someone's arm was pressed up against his body, and their free hand rested on his left shoulder. Alfred turned his head as far as it would go to look into the cold eyes of his mother. '_When the _hell_ did she get there?_' Alfred's vision blurred, and he collapsed to his knees, brushed her hand away, and pulled out the blade in his stomach. Angelique's surprised yelp rang out through the room, and she caught him before he fell onto his face. The battle between Arthur and the other soldier silenced. Arthur cried out in anger and fought the soldier off ten times stronger than before. After a few blocked attempts, he finally succeeded and stabbed the other soldier in the chest. He turned his attention back to Natalia, Angelique, and Alfred.

Natalia flipped her hair back with her blood stained hand, her hair turning a slight shade of pink, and smirked. Angelique whispered something inaudible to Alfred, soft sobs escaping her throat, and stroked his golden hair gently. Natalia sneered, "That was almost too easy."

Angelique laid Alfred down on her lap, blood changing her dress color to indigo. Her eyes wandered down to his wound, creating a puddle on the floor. She tore off a piece of her dress and pressed the clean cloth to the wound; his blood flooded the dry fabric. Alfred let out a sharp grunt and brushed her hand away.

"What the hell! That hurts you know."

Her eyes snapped back to face his. "You mean you can actually feel the pain?"

"Duh!" Alfred replied, letting out a sharp breath. "Don't injuries normally hurt?"

"Yes, but since you're connected to Mathieu, I didn't think-"She paused mid sentence, her eyes filling with terror. "Oh my god, Mathieu! He's alone at the house right now. If he gets the same wound…"

Natalia seemed interested by the conversation. Her eyes shifted to anger as she whipped around to face Arthur, throwing her blade straight at him. He dodged just in time for the blade to miss the bridge of his nose, though it didn't stop the blade from grazing his cheek. Natalia clicked her tongue, displeased her accuracy was off, and pulled another blade from under her dress.

"You never said killing my son would kill his twin as well, _Iggy_," she hissed, the temperature in the air dropping ten degrees.

"I thought that was common legend knowledge, _your highness_," Arthur shot back.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Oh well. I don't need my son to rule the kingdom, and I don't need his twin either."

"On the contrary," Arthur chuckled, putting his blade back into its hilt, "you do."

Natalia tittered. "Like a bear needs bees protecting honey."

"Now, let me explain myself." Arthur cleared his throat. "If you were to kill Alfred, and it did kill his twin as well, don't you think the country would grow suspicious? Their prince suddenly disappears, leaving a mother not from this country in control."

"I'll tell them it was you who assassinated my son. You got tired of constantly putting up with him, and in a dire attempt to rid yourself of your troubles, you murdered him before my soldiers and I could save him. And in an attempt of revenge, I killed you. They'd eat my lies as a child would gobble down cookies."

"You know the citizens are already against you. They know your malicious ways. You have no defense."

"You have no proof I tried to murder my son. The only witnesses are you, that _girl_, and my husband's soon to be dead bastard. None of you will leave this room alive."

"Are we?" Arthur asked, his eyes drifting over to the left. A Cheshire cat grin slid over his face. "I don't think _they_ believe you."

Natalia seemed unfazed, until a light, metallic tapping noise echoed through the room. Lucas entered the room and continued to tap his axe on his palm. "I guess we got here just in time."

Natalia turned as another man stepped out from the opposite side of the room, his sword slung over his shoulder. Angelique's eyes lit up, realizing it was her father. "Hmm, I wonder what the penalty is for treason. Think we should hold back?"

Soon more and more citizens appeared, surrounding Natalia where she stood. Angelique's eyes lit up as she realized how many of her friends were there. Finally, the battle seemed to be turning around.

Natalia tried to remain calm, her voice faltering slightly as she spoke. "Guards, arrest these citizens for trespassing."

"Ve, that's not your decision anymore," Feliciano stepped out into the crowd.

"Feliciano! Where's Ludwig? He's supposed to be-"

"He resigned this afternoon. Didn't you know? He took all the guards he knew were loyal to you to find that boy you were looking for, and made sure they wouldn't be coming back to help you." He smiled and added, "He's not your dog anymore."

Natalia's confidence seemed to be slipping. She dashed down the hallway behind her and hoped she could escape, only to have a group of rebels blocking her path. Mathias, who was standing in front of the group, folded his arms and spoke, "Game over, your majesty."

Natalia cried out in anger as she was clawed and grabbed at, the rebels holding her in place. She fought back as hard as she could, knife in hand and swiping at anything in her reach. When she seemed fully restrained, the crowd let out a triumphant cheer, their voices echoing through the stone corridors.

Angelique sighed in relief, closing her eyes and thanked an invisible being. "It's over, Alfred. We've won. We've-"

Alfred's face was pale and cold. Her heart leaped into the back of her throat, tears welling up in her eyes. "Alfred, no! This... this isn't possible! You... you can't die! ALFRED!" Arthur's attention shifted back to Angelique and Alfred. His heartbeat roared in his ears, and everything seemed to go in slow motion. He ran over to the two and knelt beside Alfred. Angelique turned blurry eyes to Arthur and cried, "It's not possible! He can't die, can he?"

Arthur drew in a deep breath. "I'm… I'm not sure… unless-"

Angelique let out a cry of both anger and frustration, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Her head hovered inches from Alfred's lifeless heart. Mathias and Søren both turned their heads to look over at the distressed girl and fled from the group of people, who had fallen silent and watched with disbelieving eyes.

Natalia let out a light chuckle, which turned into an all out cackle. "Gone at last! The bastard child is dead! I did it, brother!"

Mathias eyed the wound on Alfred's stomach. Arthur looked over at him, glazed eyes threatening to leak at any moment and asked, "Is there anything you can do?"

Mathias looked the situation over and breathed in. "I do know one spell, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to do by myself."

"What can I do?" Søren looked into his eyes.

Mathias huffed. "You're no help. You don't even-"

"I want to help," Søren growled and stressed his next words. "What do you need me to do?"

Mathias was silent for a few moments. "I need help chanting this spell. Everyone, join hands." There was a slight pause, before all four took each other's hands. Mathias muttered something in a language other than his own. Arthur's eyes flashed down at Alfred. Seconds changed to minutes, and yet nothing seemed to change. Mathias paused and opened his eyes. It failed.

"It didn't work," Arthur half shouted and Søren growled in frustration. Mathias racked his brain to see what he'd missed. Angelique continued to stare down at Alfred's pale face. If only she could tell him she was sorry for everything. It was her fault he got hurt. It was her fault that her brother and Alfred were both dead.

"I wish I could tell him I was sorry," Angelique whispered, and a soft sob left her throat. All background noise faded away. The air grew cold, and Angelique could see her breath forming above her. Darkness surrounded her body, and one by one, Mathias, Søren, and Arthur all disappeared from her view, yet she could still feel their presence.

"What… where am I?" Angelique saw a figure walking towards her in the dark, followed by a lighter figure next to it. The two came into focus, and she sighed in relief. "Alfred… Matthew… you're okay."

The two did not reply and only stared. Angelique's delight melted into horror; she was seeing their spirits.

Matthew's soul smiled and walked over to his sister. He gently kissed her on the cheek, and whispered in her ear, "_Je t'aime __sœur. Je suis désolé."_

"Come on, Matt," Alfred motioned. He half-smiled at Angelique, and said, "Sorry I screwed up again. Take care of the old man for me." Matthew brushed a hand through Angelique's hair and smiled lovingly before turning to join his brother. They both turned and started to fade into the darkness.

"No," Angelique whispered. "Come back. Come back!" She ran forward, her hand outstretched to grab one of them. "Please, come back! Don't leave me! COME BACK!" Her hand wrapped around the back of Alfred's shirt, pulling him back towards her. He turned his head back to look at her, and shook his head.

"I can't," he replied. "_We_ can't."

"No," Angelique sobbed, swallowing hard. "No, this is all wrong!"

Matthew turned to his sister. "Angelique, you have to let us go."

"I won't let go… I won't say good-bye," Angelique replied, and she wrapped her arms around Alfred's torso, burying her head into the back of his shirt. "I won't let you die!" Her tears soaked the back of his shirt, and Matthew reached over to pull his sister away. Angelique pressed her head into his shirt and yelled, "I'M SORRY!" The darkness soon faded into a bright light, and her body grew fatigue. She closed her eyes, two tears escaping her closed lids, and she collapsed on the ground.

~o~o~

"Angelique… Angelique," a light voice called out, "_Angelique, c'est l'heure de te lever_."

Angelique's coffee eyes fluttered open and saw her father sitting beside her. She looked around and realized she was no longer in the castle halls, but instead in some sort of medical room. Angelique remembered what she saw, and reached up to wrap her arms around Francis's neck, inhaling his familiar scent.

"Papa, I'm sorry," she whispered. "I tried, I really did. I couldn't do it."

"_Ma __petite __cherie_, what couldn't you do?" Francis hugged his daughter back.

"I saw them," Angelique felt her throat begin to burn again. "I tried to bring them back to life, I really did, but I couldn't. They were already gone."

Francis's eyes widened in realization and he hugged Angelique tighter. "I know you tried to bring Alfred and _Mathieu_ back. You did well, don't worry."

Angelique felt no comfort in his words. Tears began rolling down her face once again through her scrunched eyes. Francis stroked her hair and whispered comforting words to her in French. Angelique appreciated what her father was trying to do, but it wasn't helping. Her mind soared over every moment she shared with her brother. If only she stayed behind for breakfast with Matthew, she might not even be in this mess. Alfred would've escaped the castle, and the two brothers would still be alive.

"What happened to Queen Natalia?" she asked, trying to detour her mind.

"She's being guarded by Søren and Mathias until we decide what do with her. Queen or not, she's still committed murder."

Angelique thought about his words. "_Merci, papa_. Can you leave me alone for a moment?" She loosened her grip around his neck and sat back against the headboard. Francis looked into her eyes before nodding silently and rising.

"I'll be outside if you need me," Francis smiled, but Angelique didn't look up into his eyes again. He sighed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Angelique stared out the window. The sun bore through the panes, illuminating the room in such a contradictory way to how she was feeling.

"I guess I wasn't strong enough," she whispered, and clutched a pillow close to her chest. She inhaled the scent, and realized it was the same scent in Alfred's shirt when she hugged his spirit. She smiled, remembering how Matthew would always smell of flour and maple syrup in the morning. If only she could breathe it in one more time.

Angelique swung her legs over the bed and stared at a vase next to her. There were freshly cut red roses resting in a pool of cold water, and a note lay adjacent to it. She picked it up, and smiled to herself.

_To: Miss. Angelique_

_From: A special friend._

_PS – Don't tell Toris I cut some of his roses. He'll be pissed._

She flipped it over to see if there were anymore written words, but the back was blank. She sighed and placed it back on the wood. Angelique pushed herself into a standing position and walked over to the window. The whole town could be seen in the distance.

She imagined Elizabeta selling her apples, while Gilbert disturbed the peace and eventually got clobbered by her frying pan. Roderich would be playing his piano by now, but stop when it was time for afternoon tea. Søren was standing next to Mathias's brother and complaining about Mathias's trolls creeping him out, while Mathias just lay on his lawn and ignore him, or more likely, insult the oblivious neighbor. Feliciano and Ludwig would be strolling through the town, making sure everything was peaceful. She smiled at the happy memory and shut the curtain.

Angelique sighed and returned to the bed, picking up the pillow and cradling it in her arms. She imagined waking up from a bad dream in the middle of the night, and ran into Matthew's room. He would cradle her in his arms and whisper comforting words until she fell asleep next to him. Oh, if only she could wake up from this nightmare.

Hours passed by, and darkness settled in. Still, Angelique lay in the same position, refusing supper when Francis came in with food. Sleep wouldn't come to her, making the night dragged on forever. This continued for four or so days. (Angelique wasn't sure how long she had been laying there. She lost track of time.) Arthur had already been in and threatened to shove food down her throat if she didn't eat, and she replied by saying she'd just throw it up in his face. Eventually he gave up trying, and no one entered the room for a whole day. The red roses that were laying next to her, which no one bothered to water or give any sunlight to, started to wilt before her eyes.

"Say hello to Matthew and Alfred for me," Angelique whimpered to the dying roses. She finally closed her eyes, exhaustion taking over her, and buried her head into her pillow.

"Oh, Angelique," Francis's voice broke through the darkness that overtook her.

Angelique blinked her eyes open to adjust them to the light. Someone had been in the room and opened the curtain. She lifted her head to look at the roses in the vase. The dying flowers were replaced by a fresh bouquet of flowers. There was a new note there, but she didn't bother pick it up, nor lift her head from its position in the dented pillow.

"Angelique," the voice called again. She recognized it as her father's.

She paused for a moment, before uttering a meek, "What?"

"I have a surprise for you," his chipper voice replied.

Angelique let out a sigh. "I don't want any more roses, papa."

"Roses?" Francis questioned but let it go. "No, it's much better than that." Angelique didn't reply for a while. Francis continued, "Angelique, are you still there?"

"Go away," she hissed.

"Angelique, this isn't healthy. I know you miss your brother, but this isn't the way to handle it. You're being childish."

"You don't know anything about what I'm feeling!" Angelique yelled as tears she thought were dried up returned to her eyes. "I just killed my brother and the prince of my country. I'm the reason they're gone. It's my entire fault. It's more than just losing a brother. I'm responsible for it! Now leave me in peace!"

Silence choked the air. Angelique covered her face in the pillow once again and sobbed into it. Minutes later, the door opened, and someone stepped inside. Angelique held her breath and wanted to scream. Why wasn't he listening to her? "Papa, I thought I told you to leave me alone!"

Francis didn't answer. Angelique groaned in frustration and lifted her head out of the pillow to face the doorway. "Papa, go a-"

"It's not… papa," a sweet voice replied.

Angelique's puffy red eyes widened. "Mathieu!" She jumped out of her bed and slammed into Matthew; both of them tumbled to the floor. She inhaled the maple smell that still stained his clothing. "You still owe me those pancakes."

Matthew laughed and replied, "I'll put it on my to-do list."

"So… is Alfred…"

"Yeah, he's okay too, thanks to you."

"Me?" Angelique cocked her head. "What did I…"

"Mathias said that when you cried on Alfred's soul, you gave the missing ingredient to Mathias's spell… the tears of an angel. Ironic, huh?"

Angelique laughed. "Sort of."

Matthew gently pushed his sister off. He paused and asked, "Did you know?"

"About what?" Angelique swallowed hard, looking into her brother's eyes.

"About Alfred being my twin."

"Oh… that," she replied. "Yeah. Papa told me when we were little." She decided to leave the other details out. "Is Alfred… alive?"

"He's awake. He told me to come and see you right away, so I did. I think he stayed back in his room." Before he knew it, Angelique was off his chest and heading over to Alfred's room. She was running in the hallway when she bumped into someone and almost lost her balance.

"Whoa there," Arthur caught her before she fell. "What's your hurry."

Angelique noticed two bags slung over his shoulder and one resting at his side. "My hurry? Where do you think you're going?"

"Me?" Arthur questioned. He glanced down at the bags at his side. "Oh, these. I'm leaving Peleo-India."

"What?" Angelique gasped. "Why? This is your home. There's nothing left for you back at Alba Ruthenia now that the queen isn't queen anymore."

"I know. That's why I'm going to ChinSei instead."

"What's in ChinSei?"

"One of my friends, Kiku, offered me a place to stay."

"Stay? But your home's here. You belong with us. Alfred can't do this by himself."

"He doesn't need me anymore. He's going to have Matthew around a lot more now, and I'm pretty sure he's not going to let Matthew out of his sight for a while. Besides, if I don't leave… I'm pretty sure things will only get worse, especially now that the queen is out of power."

"Why?" Angelique cocked her head.

"Because now he's going to be in charge. As if he wasn't bad enough."

Angelique smiled. "Well… I wish you good luck on your journey."

"Well, tha-ahh!" Angelique flung her arms around Arthur's neck, taking him by surprise. He loosened after he realized what was going on and put an arm around her to pat her on the back.

"Thanks for everything," he whispered in his ear.

Arthur's eyes softened, and he smiled. However, as soon as it came, he pushed her off and snapped, "Well, if I didn't do it, I'd never get out of this hellhole. It's not like I did it for you or anything. No way in hell."

Angelique chuckled. "I know, Arthur. So… will I ever get to see you again?"

"Maybe one day," he replied, and scratched the back of his head. "Depends on how much trouble that brat gets himself into."

"Right… which way to Alfred's room, by the way?"

Arthur pointed behind him. "Straight down this hall, make a left, and it's the first door to your right."

"Thanks," Angelique replied. She headed off when Arthur grabbed her shoulder.

"Before I go, I want to tell you something."

Angelique blinked. "Yes, what is it?"

"Things are going to be a lot different than you remember. Just… be careful around Alfred, will you?"

Angelique had no idea what Arthur meant. "Well, yeah, sure. Whatever."

"Thanks." With that said Arthur picked up the bag next to him and disappeared down the hall. Angelique watched him leave and thought about how much she'd miss him. She turned and followed his directions and stopped at the door to her right. Angelique straightened out her wrinkled dress as much as possible and knocked on the door.

"Yes? Come in," Alfred's voice called from inside.

Angelique took in a deep breath and snapped, "You better be decent."

"Like you wouldn't want to see," Alfred shot back.

Angelique pouted and opened the door. "For your information, I…" Her voice trailed off as Alfred turned his head to look at her. "Ah…"

"Sorry, did I disappoint you by wearing pants?" Alfred laughed.

Angelique snorted. "You wish. It's just… I never noticed your eye color before. I thought it was closer to Matthew's eye color."

"No… mine's lighter," Alfred replied. He stretched his arms up and let out a soft grunt. Angelique watched his eyes intently.

Since when did Alfred have golden eyes?

**To Be Continued**…

* * *

We're back! No excuse for being this late, but we're back on track. I'm sorry you all had to wait so long for this chapter, but we hope that writer's block will leave us alone for a while. And returning readers, we gave you a (longer than planned) chapter to thank you for sticking around so long! =D You rule!

Oh… if you look at some of the older chapters, I edited a few of it to make more sense/tie up in the end. And I'm also including songs to set the mood of each chapter (seeing as Kami and I are such nerds and relate our story to music).

Another piece of trivia… this ends Part 1 of the story. Now is when things go from bad to worse… just like Harry Potter! XD Ten points if you can guess why Alfred's eyes are gold instead of blue. =D It's not too hard if you know the original storyline.

Thanks to our reviewers for reminding us we needed to get our butts in gear!

**xoxox. sailor. gemstone. xo****, Russian Lullaby**, **Maple Bunny**, **MarshmallowTree, Kiesha, Hinata Uzumaki-sama, IcyEmo15, **and** She Who Dances Under The Moon**!

And also, thanks to Darandomninja for still caring to beta our long over-due chapter. =) Thanks for reading!


	9. 8:  The Change and the Guilt

No real translations for this chapter. Everything is simple French we've used in other chapters.

**Songs for this chapter: [Remove the spaces for the link]**

Gallery – Angelique's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=4kBYSvcKAB8 [Sorry that Matthew is referred to as a "she"]

Bleed (I must be Dreaming) – Matthew's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=XCcbsDJx-2Q

Surrender – Alfred's Theme - www. youtube. com/watch?v=e8EKIQpoXdE

* * *

**Chapter 8 - The Change and the Guilt**

Angelique stared at Alfred's eyes, as if she were lost in them. "Oh… well, I guess I'm imagining things."

"I guess you are," Alfred replied and swung his legs over the bed. "Did you get my roses?"

"Yes, I… wait, those were _your_ roses?" Angelique blinked. Alfred opened his mouth to reply, but she jumped forward and clenched her hands around his neck. Whipping his head back and forth, she screamed, "You mean you were alive this whole time and you didn't have the balls to tell me? You damn idiot! Do you have any idea what I've gone through this week?"

"I'm sorry!" Alfred replied to the best of his ability.

Angelique stopped shaking him and let go of his neck, panting heavily. "Sorry? That's all you can say… sorry!"

Alfred rubbed his sore neck and coughed. "Yeah. What do you want me to say? Oh, I was so wrong for making your mind eat you away like that?"

"I'd be nice," Angelique shot back.

Alfred laughed through his nose and shook his head side to side. "Women… I'll never understand them." Angelique chose not to reply to that and turn the other cheek. Alfred continued, "Where'd Mattie go?"

Angelique shrugged. "I don't know. Last I saw him, he was in my room."

"Eh, I guess I have to go find him then, huh?" Alfred stood up and walked out the door, ruffling  
Angelique's hair as he passed by. Angelique watched him leave; the color of his eyes remained etched in her head. '_Gold? I could have sworn his eyes were a light blue. Arthur did say he was going to be different… is this what he meant? When I brought him back, is it possible he came back in a new body? Ugh, I'm thinking too deep. Alfred is Alfred; Matthew is Matthew. There's nothing to worry about.'_ She shook herself from her thoughts and followed Alfred out the door.

~o~o~

"You're _not_ going with us?" Francis questioned, as he stared at the back of Matthew's head. He put his cup of tea down on the table and watched his adopted son put flour in a bowl. "It's not like you can't come and see Alfred every once and a while."

"I know," Matthew replied, cracking an egg on the side of a bowl. "But… I think it'd be a bit strange if I went home with you and Angelique. I mean, we're not even related, and I'm just making life harder for you. Don't you think it'd be a lot easier if you had to only support Angelique?"

Francis blinked, not knowing what to say. "_Mathieu_, that doesn't matter. You are just as much my son as Angelique is my daughter. Just because we're not blood related doesn't mean you're not part of our family. I will always love you as my own."

Matthew smiled and set the other egg he was going to crack down on the table. "Thanks, _papa_." He went back to his cooking, a smile on his face the whole time.

"There you are!" Alfred called out and entered the kitchen. Francis glanced up at Alfred's eyes and choked on his tea.

Matthew turned and looked at Francis. "You okay?" Francis nodded, and Matthew looked at his brother and smiled. "Hello, Alfred." Francis looked between Alfred and Matthew; he waited for Matthew's reaction to Alfred's mysterious eye transplant. "Want some pancakes?"

"Sure!" Alfred chirped happily and took a seat across the table from Francis. "What's up… uh… Francis, right? You're Mattie's dad"

"Yes," Francis replied, trying not to stare. Maybe it was just him hallucinating, but he could've sworn Alfred's eyes were blue. Angelique soon stepped into the room and walked over to join her father. He smiled, finally able to draw his attention to something else. "Good morning, _Angelique_."

"Hello, _papa_…" She smelled the air. "_Mathieu_, you're making pancakes!"

"Mmhmm," Matthew poured the batter into the pan and placed the pan over a fire. "You did say I owed you some, right?" He looked over his shoulder at his sister.

"Well yes, I guess so," she replied and sat next to Francis. She looked at Alfred and remembered his now golden colored eyes. Angelique looked over at Francis and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Is it me, or are his eyes weird?"

Francis leaned his head toward her and replied, "I thought I was just me. _Mathieu_ didn't seem to notice, or he doesn't care."

"He probably accepted the fact that they're gold. He is his twin brother." Angelique looked over to see Alfred staring at them. She raised her voice. "Don't you hate it when people eavesdrop on you, _papa_?"

Alfred narrowed his eyes. "Don't you hate when people talk bad about you right in front of your face, Mattie?"

"Huh?" Matthew looked over his shoulder, projecting a pancake into mid air. His mouth opened as he watched the pancake fly over his head and land directly on top of Alfred's hair. Alfred blinked and took the pancake off his head, leaving a trail of uncooked batter in his hair.

"A simple 'no' would've worked," he chuckled and took a bite of it. He let out a sound of satisfaction and continued, "A little underdone, but it's good."

Matthew smiled. "Sorry about that. If you think they're good now, you should taste them when there's maple syrup on them."

"Well," Alfred scraped his chair across the floor, "I'm going to get this pancake stuff out of my hair. Can't wait to get some breakfast when it's finished." He looked over at Matthew and smiled before walking out of the room. Matthew went back to making breakfast, Francis idly sipped tea, and Angelique studied the color of the floor.

Finally, Francis decided to break the silence. "Alfred seems to be back to his old self, finally."

"Except for his eyes," Angelique muttered under her breath.

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Matthew asked and made sure he caught the pancake in the pan this time.

"Huh?" Angelique's eyes snapped to the back of Matthew's head.

"You said 'except for his eyes' right? I don't see anything wrong with them."

"Matthew, they were gold. Of course there is something wrong with them," Angelique explained.

Matthew stacked the pancakes on the plate and placed them in front of Francis and Angelique. "I don't know what you're talking about," Matthew sighed. "Al's eyes were blue like always." He looked around the table. "Now, where's that maple syrup?" He wiped his hands on a cloth and left the kitchen to search for the missing topping.

Angelique and Francis exchanged expressions. She asked, "Is _Mathieu_ colorblind or something?"

"Not that I know of," Francis replied. "I don't understand why he wouldn't notice Alfred's eyes were a different color."

"Why are there like totally random people in my kitchen?" someone questioned. Francis and Angelique looked to see someone half hiding behind the doorframe. From what they could make out, she had blond hair pulled into a short ponytail and emerald eyes. Her outfit consisted of a red and white dress with an apron hugging her torso. Francis thought she was kind of cute, hiding behind the doorframe. "This is totally so not cool. Liet's like the only one supposed to visit me here. I'm so not decent!"

"Uh, sorry," Angelique didn't know what else to say. "Um… who are you?"

The person paused, and slipped behind the wall further. "My name? It's Felix. I'm the totally awesome cook here."

'_Felix… wait. That's a guy?'_ Angelique wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Felix continued, "Do you like not know where you are or something? 'Cuz I can totally tell you where you need to be."

"No… _Mathieu_ is making pancakes for us." Angelique explained.

"Who?" Felix questioned.

Angelique repeated, "_Mathieu_."

"Um… bless you?" Felix slipped his head out from the wall slightly.

Francis sighed. "_Matthew_. It's his name."

"Oooh," Felix nodded and laughed. "She has a totally weird accent." Angelique resisted the urge to bang her head on the table.

Francis stared at the half hidden boy. "We don't bite, you know."

Felix completely hid himself behind the wall. "Oh, it's totally okay. I don't want to like bother you and stuff."

Matthew strolled into the room, scratching his head. "I can't believe they don't have any maple syrup here."

"Alfred!" Felix shouted and ran over to hide behind Matthew. "It's like, so cool that you're here. I missed you."

Matthew blinked and looked over his shoulder. "Uh, I'm not-"

"Wow, Mattie, whatever you put in that pancake mix, it doesn't come out easily." Alfred walked in, still picking remnants of the pastry out of his hair. He sat back down in his previous seat at the table and waved. "Hey, Felix."

Felix peered from behind Matthew. "You look so much like Alfred it is ya know, like, scary!"

Alfred blinked and replied, "That's because I am."

"No you're not," Felix snorted. "Alfred has blue eyes. "

Alfred furrowed his eyebrows. "Okay… so I see you and Mattie are good friends."

"What are you talkin' about? This is totally Alfred! I think you're confused."

The room silenced. Angelique looked over at Alfred. "Is he always that dense?"

"You never know with him," he sighed.

"Hey! I'm right here, ya know," Felix put his hands on his hips, stepping out from behind Matthew. "If she has a question, like, she can ask me herself."

Matthew walked over to the table and looked at the naked pancakes. "Hey, uh… you're Felix, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you happen to have any maple syrup?"

Felix scratched his head. "Um, man, I think there may be some in the back pantry, but it's ancient. I'll go get it for you." The boy turned on his heels and scampered out of the kitchen.

Angelique rested her chin in her palm. "Well he seems," she paused, thinking of a nice word. "Interesting."

"He's definitely a horse of a different color," Francis agreed.

"Ah, he's not the brightest guy around, but he makes awesome hamburgers," Alfred smiled. "He's not that bad, once you get used to him."

"You'd like anything that gave you food," Angelique muttered under her breath.

Alfred chose to ignore that comment. "So, now that Arthur's on vacation, I have… nothing to do," Alfred folded his arms on the table and cushioned his head between them. He sighed, "Great, now who am I going to argue with?"

"Something just as smart as you, like that rock over there," Angelique replied. Alfred suddenly felt like he wouldn't miss Arthur as much.

"Right. Where did he say he had to go again?"

"He went over to visit some friend in ChinSei or something like that."

"Oh yeah, I remember now. He was going to spy on the two leaders of ChinSei and Usra while pretending to see his friend." Alfred smiled to himself. "There isn't going to be any invasions while I'm leading this country. I know the bitch was planning something with the leader of Usra, so I'm going to have to be extra careful. Speaking of the bitch, how's she doing?"

Angelique and Francis looked at each other. "She's under the castle being guarded by Ludwig, now that Arthur left."

"Hmm, funny you didn't kill her yet," he grumbled and leaned back on his chair.

"Wow," Matthew mused. "That's a bit dark for you, Alfred."

"When you've been through some of the crap I've been through the past few years, you'd agree," he replied. "Matt, get me something to drink. I'm thirsty."

Matt's violet eyes faded into brown then gold. "Right away." Angelique's jaw dropped and her voice squeaked as she watched her brother walk away.

"You could've got it yourself," she growled.

"Eh, he was already up. And I know he doesn't mind."

Angelique's eye twitched. "You're becoming a jerk, you know that?" Francis put a hand on her shoulder and shushed her gently, reminding her to mind her manners.

Alfred's aurous eyes focused on Angelique's coffee colored eyes, and the two locked into a staring contest. Something about his eyes seemed unfamiliar to Angelique, like she was staring at another person's soul. She involuntarily shuddered.

"If you don't like me, you can leave," Alfred spoke, his eyes narrowing.

Angelique folded her arms. "If it wasn't for Mathieu waiting on your every command, I would. The sooner he gets your water and comes back, the sooner I'll leave."

"You don't need his permission to leave," Alfred hissed.

"_Angelique, ma petite cherie_," Francis interjected, "_Mathieu_ isn't going with us. He's staying here with Alfred."

"What!" Angelique jumped up and slammed her hands on the table. From the corner of her eyes, she could see a smirk slither across Alfred's face. "What do you mean he's not going home with us? Why, so he can be Alfred's lap dog for the rest of his life? And it's not like Alfred appreciates him or anything. He's just using Matthew. I don't get it. Is he too dense to realize what's going on?"

"_Angelique_," Francis warned. "Please, he-"

"Or, aren't we good enough for him now that he knows he's royalty? Is that it?"

"_Angelique_! Don't say things like that. _Mathieu_-"

"Well guess what. If _Matthew_ doesn't want to live with us anymore, then I say good riddance! We don't need him anyway! He wasn't even part of my family to begin with, so why should I care?"

Angelique jumped as a loud clang and sloshing water sounded from behind her. She turned her head as far as it would go to see Matthew standing in the doorway. A silent tear slid from his violet eyes down his cheek.

"You don't need me anymore, huh?" He questioned. "Am I too much of a burden to you?"

Angelique felt her throat burn. "No, I didn't mean it that way. Let me explain!"

"Explain what?" Alfred hissed, walked over to Matthew, and put a comforting arm around Matthew's shoulder. "You just said you didn't need him. I think you'd be doing us all a favor if you just left."

Angelique opened her mouth to speak; all she got at first was a soft sob. "I'm sorry. You weren't supposed to hear that. I was just angry."

Alfred whispered something into Matthew's ear and retorted, "Oh yeah, well-"

"I can stick up for myself," Matthew growled, his eyes returning to a dark yellow color. Alfred shut up, a curious expression sliding on his face. "Angelique, I think it would be best if you left."

"What? Mathieu, please," Angelique cried. "I didn't mean a word of it. I love you. Believe me!"

"Leave already!" Matthew yelled, his eyes cynical.

Francis wrapped his arm around Angelique's shoulders. "Come on, _Angelique_, I think it'd be best if we left him alone for a while."

She looked up at him and nodded, letting him lead her out the door. Angelique glanced over her shoulder and watched Matthew's anger melt into grief. She sighed and turned her head back, her tears staining her dress.

"Kay, I found that maple syrup you all wanted," Felix chirped and stepped in the room. "Hey, where'd everyone go?"

"Thanks, Felix, but I'm not hungry anymore," Matthew replied. "Maybe some other time." He lifted Alfred's arm off his shoulders and walked out the door, running to Alfred's room.

"Did I miss something?" Felix scratched the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it, m'kay?" Alfred took the syrup from his hand. "Want some pancakes? There's no point letting them go to waste."

"Totally!" Felix replied. "I'll go find Liet. He's probably, like, so starving by now." Alfred watched the blond run out of the room, a devilish grin consuming his face.

"No one's ever coming between Matthew and me. That includes that little runt of a sister he has." He tipped the pitcher of maple syrup on the pancakes in front of him.

"Like, we're back!" Felix called, followed by Toris.

"Oh, hey guys. That was quick." Alfred looked back at them. Toris had seen Alfred's eyes before, so it didn't come as too much of a shock.

"Hi," he replied. "Thank you for inviting me for breakfast, Alfred."

Alfred clicked his tongue. "Come on, Toris. You're like my second best friend… after Matthew of course." Toris tried not to take offence, noticing he'd been demoted to the back-up best friend category. "Now come on. I want to try these things before they get cold."

Toris walked past Alfred to sit down. He looked at the maple syrup on Alfred's pancakes and had to double take to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Toris thought, _'That's funny… I could've sworn Alfred's reflection in the maple syrup looked like a strange girl.'_ But whatever he saw was gone now.

~o~o~

Matthew opened the door with such force, it banged against the wall and slowly trailed backward. He stomped over to the bed, tears running down the side of his cheeks, and flopped onto the cool covers. Matthew buried his face in a pillow and thought of his sister. '_How could she say those horrible things about me? Better yet, how could I say those horrible things to her? I'm such a terrible older brother!'_

He looked up and placed his chin on the feather pillow, staring at the wall in front of him. '_Maybe Angelique will forgive me if I apologize. I'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue. She__stuff she regrets when she's angry.'_ Matthew wiped the tears from his eyes and sat up on the bed. _I'll have to tell Alfred where I'm going first. If I don't, he'll probably hunt me down and make everything worse.'_ Nodding to himself, Matthew hopped off the bed and headed toward the kitchen.

He stepped in the doorway and observed Felix, Toris, and Alfred laughing and eating pancakes together. For a moment, he watched and smiled at how relaxed his brother was. Alfred looked over and waved to Matthew in the doorway.

"Hey, bro, what's up?" Alfred questioned, his mouth full of food.

"Eww," Matthew whispered and cleared his throat. "I feel terrible about what happened, so-"

"Dude, I already told you it was okay. The pancake thing was an accident," Alfred shoved more food in his mouth. "And they're delicious by the way.

"Thanks. Just so you know, I'm going to apologize to Angelique."

Alfred choked on the food in his mouth. "What?"

Matthew turned to leave. "I'm going to say I'm sorry. I was a jerk. So, I'll see you when I get back."

"Hold on," Alfred hissed. Matthew's body involuntarily froze in place. Alfred continued, "You aren't leaving these castle grounds unless I say so, got it?"

"Yeah," Matthew muttered, and sighed. "Fine. I'll go sit in the garden or something."

"Hey, you sure you don't want any pancakes?" Alfred taunted, "They're awesome."

"No thanks," Matthew replied and strolled toward the double doors that lead to the garden. He breathed in the scent of fresh roses and listened to the chatter of lively birds. The sun hid behind the clouds every so often. He walked down the paths, admiring the scenery and enjoying the fruits of Toris's hard labor. He stopped and stared at the gates barring him from the outside world.

"You know what, screw Alfred," Matthew snarled and walked towards the gates. "He's not the boss of me. She's my sister, and I can apologize to her if I want to." He marched over to the pillars of iron and opened them; the hinges groaned in protest.

Matthew took a step outside the gate and froze. His legs began to tingle like he sat on them too long and cut off the circulation. His heartbeat roared in his ear, and his breaths became shallow as if he was breathing through a straw. Alfred's words echoed in his mind.

"_You aren't leaving this castle grounds unless I say so."_

Matthew forced his body to back up; the numb feeling drained from his legs. He fell to the ground and panted, staring at the outside world. His heart beckoned for him to keep going, but his mind told him to stay put. Matthew screamed at the top of his lungs. A flock of crows cried out and fled from a nearby tree.

"Damn it! Why do I listen to everything he says?" Matthew cried, pounding his fist in the dirt. "He's such a conceited bastard! I wouldn't even be in this mess if he would've just minded his own business." Matthew stood up, and took in a deep breath. "ANGELIQUE! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, I'M SORRY!" His own voice echoed through the trees. He paused, hoping she'd step out of the trees and race to his arms, but the moment never came.

"I want to go home," Matthew hugged himself and fought the tears coming to his eyes. "I want this all to be a dream, and I'm going to wake up tomorrow and find out everything was a lie." Footsteps skidded to a halt behind him.

"Matt, I heard you scream. Are you okay?" Alfred knelt beside his twin and wiped a tear from Matthew's eye. "What's wrong?"

"You are, that's what!" Matthew blurted out. "You're my problem. I want to go home and tell Angelique I'm sorry, but because you're too selfish to think of anything but what you want and what you need, I'm stuck here! You and your stupid orders. I wish I wasn't your twin. I wish there was no such thing as this curse. I hate you!" Matthew clenched his fists. Alfred stared at him with indifferent eyes.

"Matt, I'm doing this for your own good," he replied.

"Bull!" Matthew hissed, and punched Alfred in the jaw. Alfred flew backward and stared up at his raging twin. "That's bull, and you know it! I hate you! I can't stand you!" Fresh tears leaked from his eyes. "I wish you'd disappear!"

"Matthew," Alfred's eyes widened. "Calm down."

"Calm down? No, I'm sick of being the weak one and taking orders from you!" Matthew bellowed. "You think I'm this meek little rat that's going to do everything you say? Well guess what! You've got me all wrong." He turned and faced the gate, breathing deeply. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Autumn leaves danced in the breeze and scattered themselves on the ground. Alfred rubbed the side of his cheek and listened to Matthew's labored breathing.

"Al," Matthew's voice was soft. "I'm sorry, I just can't take it. I lost my sister, I lost my family, and I want to go home."

"But Matthew," Alfred stood up and put a hand on his twin's shoulder. "I am your family. Your _real_ family. Don't I matter to you too?"

Matthew groaned. "Of course you do. I just feel so guilty."

"I know," Alfred sympathized. "But if she loved you too, she'd come back for you."

"That's only in fairytales," Matthew muttered.

"It's worth a try," Alfred's contagious smile spread across his lips. "Come on, why don't we wait inside where it's warmer. You're going to catch a cold out here."

"Right," Matthew agreed, and followed his brother back inside.

Alfred wrapped an arm around his twin and tried to change the subject. "Hey, did you ever learn how to ice skate?"

"Are you kidding? I practically live for the winter. Why wouldn't I know how to skate?"

"Good, because I'm looking for a teacher," Alfred replied, and the two chattered about what they were going to do together to pass the winter by.

**To be continued…**

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New quick chapter for you! And it was written by me (Kami) so I'm sorry if my grammar sucks ass. -.- I think the ending kind of dragged on, and it was the hardest part for me to write. But Neko wanted Matthew to show his stronger side. So, this is for all you people who are sick of obedient, quiet Matthew.

Can anyone tell what's going on with Alfred? Or are we being too vague. You'd have to know the original "Saga of Evil" songs to understand it, I guess. We'll release the answer in the next chapter if you all are still too confused.

Oh, and thank you for all our lovely reviewers. You guys rock! =D

**SuperMiniMutt**, **Italiangurlinamessedupworld **(that's a mouthful =D), **xoxox. sailor. gemstone. xo**,** Lewnna**, **nupinoop296**,** KrissyV333**,and** darandomninja** (not only a reviewer, but our awesome beta!)

Hope you enjoyed this!


	10. 9: The Snow and the Soul

Hey, Neko here. I guess you can say this starts out as a filler chapter, but it gets REALLY important at the end. It may even clear up some questions… so stick with us until then, please!

**Author's notes:**

No soundtrack for this chapter. D=

Two meters is roughly seven feet, for all of you who use United States customary units. ;)

Alberto = Cuba. His name came from a former soccer player, Alberto Delgado. Look him up sometime.

**Translations: (Wow, lots today. Again, correct anything that's wrong. Kami's only a level 1 French student.)**

Bastardo – Spanish (Finally, a language I can speak! :D) – Just remove the 'o' and you have your translation. ;)

Désolé! Ne me blesse pas! – French – I'm sorry! Don't hurt me! (or something around there…)

Parlez-vous français – French - … I hope I don't need to translate this. =\ (Do you speak French)

No lo hablo nada – Spanish – No I don't speak it

Lo siento – Spanish – I'm sorry

Asombroso – Spanish – Amazing (Sorry, I like Spanish. =3)

Hasta luego mi amigo – Spanish – See you later, my friend

À plus tard mon ami – French – Later, my friend

Anden – Danish – Second (just a reminder. ^-^)

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**Chapter 9 – The Snow and the Soul**

The autumn leaves soon melted into winter snow. Matthew began to teach Alfred how to ice skate. They'd been at it for a few days now, but Alfred didn't seem to make any progress. However, Alfred kept an optimistic attitude, knowing that if he learned how to ice skate, he could spend more time with Matthew and learn more about what his brother liked to do. Better yet, it would keep him right next to his side instead of leaving him.

"You need to bend your knees more," Matthew commented, skating over to Alfred who had just fallen flat on his face.

Alfred lifted his head up to look at his brother. He crossed his arms and rested them against the ice. "I am bending them."

"Not enough," Matthew replied. "Your two-foot glide is starting to look like you're trying to fly away."

"Well if it wasn't so hard to keep your balance on ice," Alfred muttered under his breath. Matthew sighed and helped his twin onto his feet. "Here, watch me again, and-"

"Mattie, we've been at this for long enough today," Alfred groaned. "Can't we do something else?"

"I thought a hero never gives up." Matthew smirked.

Alfred's hair bristled on the back of his neck. "I'm not giving up! I'm coming back to it later. Iggy always said…" His voice trailed off and he looked away from his brother.

Matthew felt a pang in his heart. Ever since Arthur left, Alfred wasn't as cheerful, even though he tried to hide it. Alfred depended on Arthur's constant bickering not only to keep a lighter air around him but also to relax his nerves. It bothered Matthew that he wasn't enough to keep his brother happy, especially since he sacrificed his relationship with his family, the thing he treasured most, to be with his brother.

"So, anyway," Alfred continued. "Want me to show you what I do for fun in the winter?"

Before Matthew could answer, Alfred grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the castle's front gate. He pushed Matthew behind an ancient maple tree and shushed him. Matthew took time to marvel at the maple tree's size. It must've been at almost two meters wide! Matthew turned his attention to the ground, where his brother seemed to be digging through the snow.

"Alfred, what are you doing?"

"Quiet!" Alfred looked over his shoulder at his brother. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm making a snowball. You do know what a snowball is, right?"

Matthew creased his eyebrows. "Of course I know what a snowball is!"

Alfred stood up and pushed a snowball into Matthew's hands. "Hold this." He peered around the tree and focused on a guard standing still by the castle gates. Alfred smirked and chucked the snowball past the tree, flinging the snowball at the guard. It hit the back of his head, and he turned around in pure fury.

"Alfred, bastardo, come here and face me like a man!" he growled and marched over toward the tree.

"Direct hit!" Alfred chirped and ran away, yelling over his shoulder, "Run for it, Mattie!"

Matthew was confused, until he looked at the snowball still lingering in his palms. His eyes widened and he started to run, only to be cut off by the guard.

"I got you now," he hissed, grabbing Matthew by the shirt collar. Matthew squeaked in surprise and his hands flew up to grasp the man's wrists. "You've hit me with those damn snowballs for the last time!"

"No, I didn't throw the snowball," Matthew stammered. "I'm sorry. I didn't know Alfred was going to throw it at you."

"Don't try to confuse me," the man barked. "I know you threw it. You had a freaking snowball in your hands! What do I look like, an idiot?"

"Désolé! Ne me blesse pas!" Matthew then began to mutter incomprehensibly in French. The man raised an eyebrow.

"When the hell did you learn how to speak French?" he asked in a softer tone.

"My papa taught me French since I was little," Matthew replied, his heart still racing. "P-parlez-vous français?"

"No lo hablo nada," the man replied. "So... I guess you're not Alfred then, huh?"

"No." Matthew shook his head.

"Sorry about the mishap, kid. It's just you look so much like him and... I'm Alberto."

"Mathieu."

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

"I'd be happy to meet you too if I was on the ground."

"Oh, lo siento." Alberto placed Matthew's feet down on the ground. "It's just, you look so much like him and I react without thinking sometimes and..." Alberto continued to apologize, making Matthew smile. No one had ever apologized to him this much before, at least not without him apologizing profusely back.

"-ith me or something?" Alberto asked, shaking Matthew from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" Matthew looked up into his dark eyes.

"I want to apologize for confusing you with your idiot brother. Would you like to get some ice cream or something?"

"Oh, uh… sure," Matthew replied, and the two of them walked back into the castle.

~o~o~

"The bastard still writes to me every once and a while," Alberto laughed, shoving a spoonful of maple ice cream into his mouth. "But I guess brothers are brothers, right?"

Matthew absentmindedly shook his head. He played with the remains of the ice cream in his bowl, not really wanting to finish it but not wanting to waste it either. Alberto may have seemed rough around the edges at first, but the two had quickly become acquaintances. From what Matthew understood, Alberto moved to Peleo-India after moving out of his father's house. From there, he signed up to be a palace guard and would have gotten captain rank, if it wasn't for how much he detested Alfred. But he said he doesn't protect the country for his ruler, but more so for the people. Matthew admired his chivalrous attitude.

Alberto continued, "Anyway, where did you find this maple ice cream? It's amazing!"

"Oh, I make maple syrup," he replied. Alberto raised an eyebrow. "Well, not like that. It was an old method that my mother gave to me before she died. She said that it was a natural sugar from trees and could be used to sweeten anything. She taught my papa how to do it, but I've always been the one in the family to make the best syrup, not to brag or anything."

"And why not?" Alberto replied. "This stuff is asombroso!"

Matthew smiled and looked out the window. "It's getting late, and Alfred will be wondering where I am. I better go."

"So soon?" Alberto looked out the window, not realizing how much time he spent with Matthew. "I have to get back to my post anyway. Hasta luego mi amigo."

Matthew turned away from the door and smiled. "À plus tard, mon ami."

~o~o~

"There you are!" Alfred yelped and charged at Matthew. He flung his arms around his twin and nearly sent the both of them sailing to the floor. "I thought he killed you! I'm so sorry; I won't leave you alone like that again. That was totally not heroic of me."

"Alfred-"

"What kind of big brother leaves his brother defenseless against a bully like that?"

"Alfred!"

"God, I'm so stupid. I never should have-"

"Alfred!" It wasn't loud, but Matthew finally got his brother to shut up. "It's fine. Alberto and I are friends now."

"Friends? With that?" Matthew nodded his head. "You sure we're talking about the same person?"

"Alfred," Matthew hissed. "He's a nice guy, once you don't tease him by throwing snowballs at him."

"Yeah, and he isn't giving you a black eye," Alfred muttered. Matthew imagined Alfred walking around with a dark eye, while Alberto marched away triumphantly. He giggled and then turned his attention back to his brother.

"So... I was thinking..."

"Mattie, we've been over this," Alfred moaned. "It's cold out, and I don't feel like walking down to the town."

"But it's been forever since we've been there!" Matthew retorted. "And I haven't been able to see my family for three weeks now. I miss them."

"I don't know," Alfred turned his gaze away from his brother.

"Please?" Matthew's eyes began to glisten. Alfred told himself not to look, but turned his head anyway.

"No, Mattie... that's cheating! Come on now, you're not going to cry."

Matthew lowered his eyes. "Oh well, it's not that important anyway, eh? I guess I could wait a few more weeks or so."

Alfred's lips drew a straight line. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled out his mouth. "Fine. Tomorrow morning, we'll go for a walk and-"

"Thanks Al!" Matthew wrapped his arms around his brother. "You're the best." Alfred smiled and accepted his brother's affection. Matthew grinned behind Alfred's shoulder. He knew being passive-aggressive would have its advantages one day.

~o~o~

That afternoon, Matthew and Alfred dressed up as warm as possible. They strolled through the barren oak forest and into the town Matthew once called home. The streets were littered with snow and the occasional couple passed as they tried to keep each other warm. Matthew breathed in the familiar smell of the town, smiling as he stared at the different decorations for winter.

As the two were walking, a snowball pelted into the side of Alfred's head. He shook the snow from his hair and looked around, expecting Alberto to pop out from a snow mound. Another crashed into the back of his head, sending a few stray chunks into Matthew's hair as well.

"Okay, come on out and face me like a man," Alfred growled, spinning around and examining every tree. As he turned his head to look to his left, a third snowball slapped him in the face. There was a faint laugh from behind an oak tree and Søren stepped out.

"Hey, anden Mathias," he chirped and tossed a snowball up and down in the air. "Long time no see."

"Hey, Søren ," Matthew greeted. Alfred wiped the snow from his face.

"What was that all about?" he asked, wiping the melted snow off of his glasses.

Søren shrugged. "No reason. Just felt like it." He looked like he wanted to continue aloud, but merely muttered under his breath instead.

"Is that so?" Alfred huffed, and scooped a pile of snow into his hands. "Prepare to meet the King of Snowballs."

"Oh yeah, well I'm King of the Nordics, so I outrank you," Søren retorted and smirked.

"We'll see about that," Alfred growled, ignoring the fact that he didn't know what a Nordic was, and pitched the ball, only to have it miss its mark.

Søren burst out laughing and stuck out his tongue. "Ya missed me." He dashed over the snow banks and jumped over a row of snow covered bushes.

"Come back here and let me stick that tongue of yours to a pole!" Alfred yelled and chased after Søren . Matthew shook his head and continued go walk toward his house. Before he could approach his road, Mathias stepped in front of him and stopped.

"Oh, hey Mathias," Matthew greeted. "If you're looking for Søren , he's-"

"I know what that buffoon is doing," Mathias replied and folded his arms. "I put him up to it."

Matthew blinked twice. "Why?"

"To get Alfred away from you for a moment, that's why," Mathias replied. Matthew nodded and muttered an 'oh'. Mathias continued, "I wanted to talk to you privately, something I know Alfred wouldn't allow you to do if I simply asked him to."

"Well, I'm all ears," Matthew replied. "What do you want?"

Mathias looked around the clearing for any sign of eavesdroppers and took in a deep breath. "I don't know if you've noticed, but Alfred hasn't been acting like himself lately. At least, he hasn't been acting the same around us."

"Really? That's funny. He's the same old Alfred I've known."

"Maybe to you, but that's because you mean something to him. Something I fear he doesn't feel for his people any longer. Haven't you noticed he doesn't come down to visit the town as much as he used to?"

"Well yeah, but that's because it's cold outside. Alfred hates the cold."

"That may be true, but he used to visit rain or sleet when his mother was still in power. Just being around the people made him content."

"Well, I guess now that he has me, he doesn't need to come down to the town as much to have fun."

Matthias sighed, his point not getting across. "There have been changes. Changes that worry even me. The taxes Natalia placed on us still continue today, and even worse, he doesn't seem to care that we cannot afford them. He always used to listen to our problems, but now it seems as if they are of no importance unless they affect him directly. He's grown more cold to the outside world, and seems to spend most of his time inside the same place he called a prison not too long ago."

Matthew soaked his words in for a moment. "He's really changed that much?"

"Tell me, Matthew, what do you see when you look at his eyes?"

"Oh not this again. His eyes are blue, like they've always-"

"Wrong!"

"Not you too. I'm being serious."

"So am I. It worries me that only you see blue eyes, and the rest of us see gold. What worries me even more is that his eyes changed to gold after I preformed the resurrection spell the night Natalia killed you both." Mathias paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction Matthew never preformed. "I'm worried that Rin's soul may have attached to Alfred's during his resurrection."

"Rin? Who's Rin?"

"From the old legend. Don't you know your family's history?" Mathias continued to explain how Rin was the one who started the prophecy Matthew and Alfred were a part of right now. Matthew noted the similarities in Alfred's personality and linked them to what Matthias had told him earlier.

"So, you think my brother's being possessed?"

"Partly. I think Alfred's soul is in there. The only time his soul is in full control is when he's alone with you. Rin cannot stand the sight of the servant because it reminds her too much of the brother she betrayed, so she hides whenever he's around you."

"But if she's present right now, shouldn't we worry about Søren 's safety?"

"He can handle himself. It's you I'm worried about."

"Me? Why would you worry about me?"

"Haven't you found yourself out of control sometimes? Do you ever feel like someone's forcing you to make every move, as if you were a puppet on a string?"

Matthew stared at Matthias and nodded his head. "Yeah, but how did you know?"

"It's part of the curse. But I'm sure Arthur told you all about the curse before he left." Matthew's blank stare answered his question. "You really don't know what's going on, do you? Alfred can control your actions through orders."

"It all makes sense now. Back at the house, when he was giving me all those stupid little things to do. And that night I yelled at Angelique… he whispered in my ear to get rid of them." Matthew's eyes narrowed. "Did he know?"

"I'm not sure if Alfred himself realizes it, but Rin does."

Matthew clenched his fists. "Let's hope for his sake he doesn't know. Thanks, for everything Mathias. I'll try to keep on the lookout for you."

Matthew went to walk around Mathias, but Mathias held out his arm to stop Matthew. "Be careful, Matthew. I fear something terrible is about to happen. And I think you're involved."

"What?"

"Alfred's-" Mathias was about to continue, until Søren jumped over a snowbound and crashed into him. Mathias rubbed the back of his head, which hit rather hard on the ground below, while Søren laughed on top of him. "Will you get off of me?"

"Oh, sure," Søren replied, stood up, and helped Mathias up along with him. Alfred leaped over the bank as well, snowball in hand ready to launch at his opponent.

"Alfred!" Matthew cried, trying to divert his twin's attention. "I've changed my mind. I need to go home and lock up my maple cabinet before Alberto finds it and eats it all on me."

"No problem!" Alfred threw an arm around Matthew, forgetting all about his competition with Søren. "A hero never lets down a request that includes Alberto is the villain."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Oh, Mathias, before I go, give a message to Angelique for me. Tell her I only did it because of the curse." Mathias nodded his head.

"Now, away my sidekick," Alfred cried and dashed up the trail. "We haven't a moment to lose!"

Matthew smiled and tried to keep up with his brother. However, his mind couldn't help but return to what Mathias had told him. Was it really true; does Mathias not trust Alfred anymore? I do feel something different about Alfred, but I thought it was only my nerves. And if Mathias noticed it, how many of the other townspeople noticed as well? What if they all rise up against him one day like they did Natalia? Matthew shook his head. No, Alfred's not evil. He may be arrogant, self-centered, thick, oblivious… okay, he's not perfect, but that doesn't mean he's evil. I know the real Alfred. Even if no one else trusts him, I'll make sure I'm at his side, even if I'm the only one standing.

**To be continued…**

**

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**

Short chapter is short. Sorry, as I said, it was a bit of a filler, but the ending was important. I hope you were all taking notes during Mathias's explanation. =D And if not… go read again.

And again, thanks to our reviewers!

**OrangeJuice101**, **Hinata Uzumaki-sama**, **Italy** (you know who you are :D), **xoxox. sailor. gemstone. xo**, **Lone Star Gazer15, **and **nupinoop296**! You all rule! =D

And also, thank you **darandomninja** for betaing once again for us. ^o^

Um… I don't know what else to say. ^^; So see you all later.

~Neko


	11. 10: The Cold and the Mirror

_Yoo hoo! It's Kami here. Listen up, yo! I had the honor of writing this chapter, and midterms suck, so I decided to write this in my procrastination yay! =D So… Neko will take over the next chapter, and depending on when she finishes it, you may get another procrastination chapter from me! Yay for you all. XD_

_Okay, 'nuff screwin around. *focuses* __**Here's the songs we (meaning me XD) chose for this chapter(Don't forget to remove the spaces! DX):**_

_Crawling – Alfred's Theme [Yep… he knows. *dramatic music*] www. youtube. com/watch? v=oCSdLtNZbaA_

_Your Guardian Angel – Matthew's Theme- www. youtube. com/watch? v=jRehmX3zlwE_

_Enjoy! =D_

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**Chapter 10 - The Cold and the Mirror**

"ACHOOOO!" Alfred rubbed his nose and sniffled. "Ugh, colds suck."

"That's what you get for not wearing warmer clothing," Matthew replied, taking the dry cloth from his brother's head and soaking it with more cold water.

"Yeah, well, I hate winter," Alfred groaned and closed his eyes. "I wish it was spring again." Matthew pursed his lips and folded the cloth up. Mathias's warning still buzzed in his head and stung his heart. Was he really talking to Alfred right now or Rin?

Alfred sneezed again and sighed. "This is all Søren's fault. If he didn't throw those snowballs at me, I wouldn't have got sick. I swear he'll pay for this."

Matthew froze and looked at his brother's closed eyes. He wrung the excess water out of its woven strings and draped it on Alfred's forehead once again. "Now, you know that's not true. I'm the one who made you go outside. It's my fault you got sick. I guess next time I'll go alone and you can stay-"

"NO!" Alfred yelled, and Matthew jumped. Alfred flung his body into a sitting position; the cloth on his head soared through the air and slapped itself on Matthew's shoulder. Fear welled up in Alfred's eyes, and his breathing became labored and rapid. He swallowed invisible saliva and licked his dry lips.

"Alfred?" Matthew questioned, his hand drifting over to his brother's hand. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Alfred brushed a hand through his golden locks and mouthed something. "Water, Mattie, get me some water… quickly."

Matthew straightened up and dashed out of the room toward the kitchen. Since their water supply froze over the winter, Felix made sure to keep an emergency supply in the kitchen. Matthew gathered the room temperature liquid in a cup and stared at the element's motions. It swirled inside the cup, climbing up the walls of the wood as if trying to escape. However, no matter how hard it tried, it was still contained in its wooden prison. Matthew watched it settle into calm ripples, and empathized with its failed attempt to be free.

"Like, going to jump in or something?" Felix's voice asked as he stirred together onions and potato slices in a bowl. "You seem pretty fascinated with that water."

"Oh, no, I was…" Matthew wracked his mind for an excuse. "I thought I saw a fly in the water. Just my imagination though."

"There better not be an icky fly in my water," Felix replied, sticking out his tongue. "That's gross. Yuck! Disgusting!"

"I get the point," Matthew muttered under his breath.

"So, anyway, I'm like totally making Latkes. Want to try one?"

"Um… what's a Latke?"

Felix slammed his spoon on the table. "You're pulling my leg, right?" Matthew shook his head. "They're, like, potatoes and onions and breadcrumbs fried together. Don't worry though, I make them low in carbs and fat and stuff." Matthew cocked his head, and Felix exhaled. "It's like a pancake."

"Pancake, eh? Hmm, maybe I'll try one." Matthew replied and reached for a finished Latke.

Felix stopped mixing his ingredients and chewed his lower lip in anticipation. "It's totally wicked, am I right?"

"It's pretty good," Matthew replied. "I'll have to get the recipe sometime."

Felix's eyes lit up. "Awesome. Hey, I can like show you how to make some now. Wanna help?"

"Nah, I have to get this water up to Alfred, like now, before he totally freaks," Matthew responded. He ran the sentence over in his mind and realized 'Felix talk' was contagious.

"Bummer. Well, maybe next time," Felix blew a stray strand of hair out of his face and continued mixing his potato and onion slices. Matthew climbed up the stairs and opened the door to Alfred's bedroom.

"Hey Al, I got you some…" Matthew looked around the room and realized Alfred had vanished. "Alfred?" The cloth that draped over his forehead now rested on the table, and the bed sheets were prepared as if no one had slept in them. Matthew placed the water on the ground next to the door and dashed through the entire castle looking for him. However, he couldn't get rid of the thought that he wouldn't find Alfred anywhere on the castle grounds.

Matthew ran to the front door and threw on a warm jacket. He opened the door and nuzzled his exposed face into the fur of his hood. The cold air nipped at his exposed nose and the icy gust of wind thrashed his hair around. The once peaceful snowfall had become a sadistic blizzard; no one could see more than ten feet in front of their eyes.

"Alfred!" Matthew called out, but the howling wind drowned out his voice. There was no way Alfred would survive long outside in this weather, even if he were healthy. He wracked his mind for the reason Alfred would even be out in this weather anyway, considering his brother hated the cold (farther yet, snow) with a passion. Matthew took a step outside and sank into a foot of snow. The frozen water rushed into his short boots and froze his entire foot. Everything screamed for Matthew to turn back, but his gut instinct told him Alfred was outside, and he had to keep going.

…_Go to your left…_

Matthew looked around to try to find the person connected to the voice he heard. It sounded like they were right behind him, but there was no one there.

…_Go to your left…_

He didn't know what was going on, but he gathered the voice was either helping him locate his brother or someone was trying to kill him. He decided to go with the first reason, pried his foot out of the snow, and took another step forward. Gradually, he crept his way in the direction the voice led him.

_There._

Matthew stopped and shielded the snow from the left side of his eye. The snow bit his hand and tried to blind him, but it failed. The horizon was still blurred out; he could not even tell which way he came from. Still, he knew he couldn't turn back until he found his brother. With all the air left in his lungs, Matthew shrieked, "ALFRED!" He strained his ear to hear anything over the roaring wind. After about a minute of waiting, he cried his brother's name again. Fear bit into Matthew's heart, and he swallowed whatever remained in his already dry mouth. The thought of Alfred's frozen body in the snow crept into his mind and swallowed Matthew's hopes of finding his brother alive. Biting his lower lip, he prayed his brother had somehow made it back inside and was waiting for him to return. He turned around to try to find his way back into the warm walls of the castle.

"Matthew."

It was faint, but Matthew definitely heard his name. He whipped his head around, his hair scurrying around his head. Strength wove its way back into his muscles, and he pressed forward. Slowly but surely, a dark figure started to appear in the snow.

"No, go away!"

Matthew froze in his tracks, and waited for his body to follow the command. However, he didn't retreat a single step. He fought his way forward until he could see Alfred clearly in the snow.

Alfred was sitting on his knees; the snow swallowed up the lower half of his legs and started to rest on his shoulders and hair. His arms clutched the sides of his jacket, and his labored breathing rocked his torso back and forth slightly.

"Alfred," Matthew dashed to his brother's side, knelt beside him, and put a comforting hand on his brother's trembling shoulder. Alfred refused to meet his gaze and muttered unheard words. "Alfred, what's wrong? Look at me."

His demand had no effect for a second or two, until Alfred finally turned his head to look at his brother. "Get away from me!"

Matthew's hand jumped off his brother as if Alfred's words bit his flesh. "Alfred, what's wrong?"

Alfred gaped at his brother, his head lowering back to its original position. His hands raked his hair in frustration. "Mattie…"

Matthew shifted closer to his brother. "Alfred, we need to get you back inside. What do you think you were doing out here?"

Alfred bit his lip, tears beginning to leak from the corner of his eyes. "Matt… what's _wrong_ with me?" Matthew studied the frightened expression on his brother's face. Alfred continued, "I… I think I was going to kill Søren."

"What? Why?" Matthew questioned.

"I… I don't know. Something's wrong with me," Alfred's voice was barely recognizable in the blistering wind. "Last I remember, I was sitting in my room, talking about how I hated being sick, and then this voice… I never heard it before, but it was defiantly a girl's voice… she kept saying 'It was all Søren's fault I got sick; he needs to be punished". Then I remember hearing your voice, and I realized I was outside in this storm."

"We'll figure out what's wrong later," Matthew replied. "Right now, we have to get you inside."

"But I'm not cold," Alfred responded. "And besides, I'm too tired to move right now. Iggy will come get us later."

"What are you talking about? Arthur went to ChinSei with his friend. He's not-"

"He's right over there," Alfred raised dilated eyes straight in front of him and smiled. "Hey, great to see you back Iggy."

Matthew tried to focus on what Alfred was staring at, but couldn't find anything. Matthew's hand started shaking on Alfred's previously shivering shoulder. Fear overtook him as he got a clear look at Alfred's eyes. "_Merde_. Alfred, we need to get you inside, right now."

"But I'm too tired," Alfred replied, leaning forward. Matthew put a hand in front of Alfred's chest to keep him steady.

"No, Al, I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. We need to move right now!"

"No…" Alfred's voice trailed off into nothing as he lost his balance and collapsed into Matthew's hand. Matthew wrapped his other arm around his brother to keep him from falling into the snow.

"Al… Alfred! Answer me!" Matthew shook his brother to try to wake him but to no avail. Matthew lifted his unconscious brother's figure into his arms and turned around. He couldn't see his footprints in the snow anymore, but the wind seemed to be calming down. Heavy snowflakes danced around them and revealed the path to their salvation. Matthew sighed and thanked whoever was looking after them. He moved as fast as he could in the deep snow and rammed into the door closest to him.

"Like, you don't have to break the door down, ya know. I'm coming," Felix's voice muttered from inside.

"Felix, please, open the door!" Matthew cried. "It's an emergency!"

"Alfred? What are you doing outside in the cold?" Felix opened the door and gasped in shock. "Like, omg, what happened?"

"Alfred went outside in the storm and I think he has hypothermia," Matthew breathed. He could feel his limbs growing numb already, but he knew it wasn't because he was holding Alfred's frozen body.

"Typo there Mia? What kind of disease is that?" Felix asked as Matthew walked into the room.

"No, _hypothermia_, not… whatever you just said. It's when your body falls below its normal temperature. If we don't help him soon, he could die."

"Whoa, dying is so not cool. We need help, like, fast." Felix wiped his hands on a nearby cloth and dashed out of the room. "Like, I'll be right back."

Matthew nodded his head before kneeling on the floor. He cradled Alfred's torso in his arms and rested Alfred's legs to his left. The lines on the floor started to dance in his vision, and he knew it was only a matter of time. '_Damn curse…_'

"Well, Al, I guess this is the only way I can help you, huh," Matthew spoke to his unconscious brother. He chuckled under his breath and continued, "I can't promise I'll be okay this time when you wake up. But I can promise you this. I'm going to find out how Rin possessed you, and get rid of her. You're going to be free again, Alfred, even if I die trying." Matthew rested Alfred down on the ground, and lay beside him. He could hear boots scraping and clomping on the floor and feel the earth vibrating under their presence. His vision darkened, and he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

~o~o~

Steam filled his nostrils as Alfred took in an awakening breath. His muscles throbbed inside his entire body and a steady heartbeat shook his weak frame. Luke-warm towels and endless blankets constricted him but comforted his low body temperature. He open his eyes, but clenched them shut as a venomous light bit into his pupils. He whimpered and tossed his head to his side, trying to open them again.

"Well it's about time," a man sitting at a nearby table scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "You should've been up hours ago. We thought you'd died for a second time."

"Who…?" Alfred muttered, before he noticed the red cloth with a white cross wrapped around the man's right arm. "Felix?"

"Like hell!" The man whipped his head up and locked his green eyes with Alfred's blue ones. He snorted. "The cold must've killed your brain cells." He went on to mumble something under his breath, but Alfred's mind was somewhere else.

"Ugh, sorry Vash. I feel like I got hit by a truck." He pushed the blankets off his figure and held his forehead with his right palm. "What happened?"

Vash returned to scribble something down on the paper. "I don't know. All I know is Felix came in yelling his brains out, something about 'Typo there Mia', and dragged me off to help you. It seems to me you had a mild case of Hypothermia. You're lucky it wasn't more severe."

Alfred let his words sink in and studied the ceiling. "I don't even like the cold. What was I doing again… oh yeah! I was going to visit Søren." A devilish smirk creased his face.

"Not anytime soon, you're not," Vash responded. "You're staying in bed where you won't cause anymore damage to yourself or others."

"What do I care what happens to the others," Alfred growled and sat up. "I feel fine."

Vash looked up from his paper and eyed the blond. "Stop being so stubborn. I told you-"

"What do I care? You're not the boss of me," Alfred swung his legs over the side of the bed. Vash stood up and pressed his palm on Alfred's shoulder. The two locked into a glaring contest, neither one showing signs of backing down soon. "Don't. Touch. Me."

"If you'd drop your damn ego and listen to someone for once, I'd consider it."

"I said: Don't touch me!" Alfred flung himself forward and grabbed Vash's shirt collar. He slammed Vash up against the wall and looked him straight in the eyes. "Take my advice: you'll live longer if you do as I say." He heard a faint click and cool metal touch his abdomen.

"And take my advice: If you don't want lead in your stomach, I'd suggest you drop me."

"Ooh, threatening the prince. We're a brave bastard, huh?"

"Last I knew, you were the one starting this. Moreover, I would rather not kill you to begin with. It'd break my vow, but I'm not going to sit back and take your-"

"Bruder!" a meek voice cried from the doorway. "Please, don't fight you two!"

Vash and Alfred turned their heads simultaneously. Vash sighed and placed his gun back at his side; however, Alfred did not flinch. She ran over towards them and tried to separate the two, but her strength couldn't match Alfred's deathly grip on Vash's shirt.

He grinned and looked back towards Vash. "Such a pity you need a little girl to protect you, Vash."

"Like hell," Vash spat and reached down for his gun once more. Lili pushed between the two harder, but her strength failed her once again.

"I don't know what happened, but please don't fight," Lili whimpered. "This is a hospital, not a battlefield. I don't want anyone getting hurt." She looked up at Alfred, her voice shaky. "Please, prince Alfred, you must get back into bed. The more you struggle around and push your body, the harder it's going to be for Matthew to heal himself."

"Mattie," Alfred breathed, and his eyes widened. He dropped Vash, who crashed to the floor, and backed up. Lili knelt down beside her brother, but his light smile assured his safety. Alfred stuttered, "I… I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." His hand flew to his cheek and it swept down to the nape of his neck. His icy hands sent shudders down his spine. "Mattie… where's Mattie? I need to find him!"

"Calm down, Alfred," Lili spoke. "He's resting in the next room. He'll be okay." Alfred rushed past her, his mind focusing on one thing. He forced the adjacent door open; his ears throbbed with a steady roaring beat. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of sterilized air. The only present light came from a single candle flame in the corner of the room. His eyes explored every inch of the empty space, until they rested upon an unkempt bed in the corner.

Matthew's face lay upward toward the ceiling, his calm slow breaths causing the blankets on him to rise and fall. Alfred crept over; the balls of his feet barely touched the floor. He sat aside of his brother, his hand drifting over to stroke a stray strand of wavy hair back into place. A defying, curly strand sprung back into its original position and tickled the side of Alfred's arm. He smiled; the warmth of his brother's forehead reassured Alfred's nerves. Matthew's body seemed so peaceful lying next to him; it gave Alfred goose bumps. He wondered how someone could be that calm and not be dead.

"I'm sorry I got you into this whole mess," he spoke. His own voice echoed through the vacant room. "I… I don't know what's happening to me. Am I going insane?" He watched the candle light dance from the remnants of his breath. It slowed to a stop and continued to burn the wax underneath it. Alfred continued, "Maybe it's some type of curse or something. Maybe…" Alfred took in a breath. "Maybe Natalia wasn't completely insane; the position drove her to it. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought she was. I never realized how much pressure you're under when you have to rule a kingdom."

A light stir from Matthew froze Alfred in place. He studied his brother's face, waiting for his purple eyes to warm his soul. Alas, his patience was unrewarded, as Matthew drifted back into sleep. Alfred released the breath he'd been holding.

…_Disappointed?_

Alfred jumped and looked around the room for the source of the feminine voice. "What… who said that?"

_I did. Look here…_

Alfred's hair stood on end and his arms trembled under his weight. "I don't like games. Come on out! Show yourself!"

_But I'm right here. How could you not see me?_

Alfred's eyes widened as he stared at a girl, sitting on a bed parallel to him and Matthew. She sat in the same position as him; her lips turned into a devilish smile, unlike his gaping mouth. Her golden eyes played with his nerves and blinked every so often in a seducing way. Alfred stood up from the bed and so did she, mirroring his movements perfectly. He walked forward until he was standing in front of her, his breath lighting up in front of him. He jumped backward and studied the flat steam disintegrating to reveal her mischievous expression.

Alfred pressed his fingers forward and touched what seemed to be her fingers, but instead they met cool glass. He looked up at the frame and gasped. "This is a-"

"A mirror, yes," the girl spoke. Her voice echoed inside his head. "What did you think it was?"

"But… how is that possible?" His voice quivered. "My reflection should be there, not some girl."

"Oh, but Alfred, I _am_ you. Who do you think brought you back to life?"

"No… Mathias told me that it was Angelique."

The girl cackled, making Alfred jump. "You really think a mere mortal can bring you back to life? No, I saw your spirit and took pity on you, Alfred. You had such a close bond with the human world, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to be alive again. Besides, you're my ticket to freedom."

Alfred let her words sink in. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"Oh, come on now! You have to remember those stories that your… what did you call him... _Iggy_ told you?" The girl's grin intensified.

"Iggy… you mean the stories Arthur told me were real?"

"Of course they were. You think I'd have gone through all this trouble if they weren't? Possessing you isn't easy, you know. Besides… you're much more interesting when you're ready to kill, don't you think?" Alfred was about to answer when he heard a groan from behind him. The girl's face melted into pure disgust, and she clicked her tongue. "Now he's going to wake up again and ruin my fun. Dammit, Len, just let me take over things!"

Alfred's head pounded inside his skull. He pulled at his hair with his fingers, the throbbing felt as if his skull was going to split in half. Rin, in the mirror, let out a painful yell and Alfred followed her movements, unaware that he was screaming until he felt icy arms wrap around his shoulders. He struggled to free himself, but the arms only held on tighter. He threw his hands to the ground and whipped his head around, meeting gaping violet eyes.

"Alfred, calm down, it's only me," Matthew spoke. Alfred's tense body turned to jello and his weight collapsed onto his brother.

"I saw her!" Alfred cried, his voice trembling. "I saw her! She was in the mirror, Mattie, I saw her!"

"What are you talking about, Alfred? Saw who?" Matthew tried to meet Alfred's gaze, but his brother was more occupied in searching for the girl he was talking about.

"But she was right here in the mirror! I saw her, and she was me. Do I still look like myself?"

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Of course you do. Why wouldn't you? You're not making any sense."

"I need Arthur. Dammit, I need to talk to him now!" Alfred yelled, and he tried to jump up, but Matthew's protective grip held him in place. "Mattie, I need to go see Arthur! I have to get up!"

"You need to calm yourself. Arthur's all the way in ChinSei. You'll never get-"

"Get away from ME!" Alfred screamed, and Matthew found himself jumping backward quicker than Alfred could catch himself. The older twin's head collided with the concrete, and he tossed himself over to his side, rubbing his head.

"Alfred, I'm sorry!" Matthew cried, but found he couldn't get any closer to Alfred. He cursed under his breath and continued, "Are you alright?"

Alfred groaned and used his hands to push himself into a sitting position. He eyed his brother over and studied the small stain of blood on his fingertips from his bleeding temple. His vision blurred out, and the salty smell of tears fill his nostrils. He wiped his eyes with his left palm and rubbed his hand up through his hair; the remnants of his wet palm sent several strands into different directions. Finally, he croaked, "What's wrong with me, Mattie? I'm so confused."

Matthew felt a twinge of pain shoot through his heart. His once strong, proud brother was reduced to nothing more than a quivering child, and it shook him to his core. Unable to move toward Alfred because of his brother's previous order, he sat on the floor and crossed his legs, resting all his weight on his elbows. The air seemed to wilt around them; even the candle light dimmed in despair.

"Alfred," Matthew whispered, "you're going to be alright. I promise we're going to find out what's wrong, and we're going to fix it. If you think we need to talk to Arthur, the annual peace meeting is in two days, and it's in ChinSei. Maybe we could visit him there. I'm sure he wouldn't mind talking to you."

Alfred looked over at his twin, a smile trying to perk onto his face. He moved his hand closer to his younger brother, but Matthew's reflexes pushed his body backward. Alfred gaped in confusion and placed his hand back at his side.

Matthew thought for a moment and continued, "I only moved away because you told me to earlier. I don't know if you know it or not, but every little command you tell me, even if it's something simple like 'move your finger', I will follow it."

Alfred's eyes locked with his brother's eyes; pure shock illuminated his orbs. "Mattie, I'm sorry. All this time I've been telling you to do stuff, but I never realized you always did everything." He thought for a moment, and licked his lips. "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to, so how can I stop it from happening?"

"Somehow, I fear it's going to happen no matter what," Matthew placed a hand over his heart. "It's human nature to tell others what you want them to do. You just do it more than others." Alfred's serious face caused Matthew to rub his neck. "Oh, come on, Al… if I knew I'd tell you already."

He sighed heavily. "I know Mattie. Tell you what… why don't you come with me to the meeting, so we can figure out how to fix both our problems. Arthur knows everything, right?" He smiled at his own joke and stood up.

Matthew smiled and stood along with his brother. "Sounds like a great plan to me."

"Then it's settled, we leave for ChinSei tomorrow!" He flung an arm around his brother's shoulder, and the two walked down the hallway to get ready.

**To be continued…**

**

* * *

**_Whew! That took longer than I thought it would. Kami here, reporting for duty! We're back from vacation and a long hiatus. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. :D_

_Anyway, I'm starting to wonder if these chapters are getting too boring for you guys. Any ideas to spice the plot up a bit? I mean, it's gonna get extra spicy when Alfred meets who Arthur's been hanging out with, but that's a story for another chapter. ;) So yes… send us your love and make your ideas part of the story today! (We'll give you proper credit of course. :) Such a cheesy commercial, huh?)_

_Oh, and just so you know… there's about 6 or so chapters left in the story. Sad, isn't it? Maybe we'll turn it into 7 if one of the chapters gets too long. I'm always thinking of new ideas to put in, even if Neko thinks they're too crazy. =u= _

_Thank you our lovely reviewers! (There's a bunch of review love this time. =D)_

**RasalynnLynx**, **nupinoop296**, **OrangeJuice101**, **xoxox. sailor. gemstone. xo**, **Italy **(aka person with the really long name :D), **Hinata Uzumaki-sama**, **PokemontrainerNelly**, **Tatsumaki-sama**, **MarshmallowTree **(Das awesome Preußen :D), and **Kiesha **(I can't even list all the times your comments made us LOL XD)!

Also, **Darandomninja**…. you rock for being our beta! 8D

_Tis it for now. =3=_


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